You deserve better than her
by lizbethu
Summary: This is my first attempt at Arrow fan fiction, so be kind, please. This story picks up where episode 6 of season 2 left off after Oliver's final exchange with Felicity in his office following their return from Russia, , incorporating items from episodes 7, 8 and 9, but taking a different spin on the Sebastian Blood/Slade storyline.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Felicity's head was reeling with the exchange she just had with Oliver.

_Why her? I mean besides the obvious leggy model reason?_

_It just kind of happened. It didn't mean anything. Hey, because of the life that I lead I just think it's better to not be with someone that I could really care about._

Did he seriously think that it would make it all better by saying his little tryst with Isabel Rochev meant nothing? Even when she stated the obvious, that he deserved better than Isabel, she could see that look in his eyes. It was the look that said he didn't agree with her, no matter how much she believed it. And now, on top of the crushing pain in her chest, Felicity had to see the woman at the middle of their disagreement to deliver whatever document Oliver had asked her to drop off for Isabel.

As she entered Isabel's office suite she pulled up short, cursing that Isabel's administrative assistant was nowhere in sight to take the document. The light in Isabel's office was still on, though the door was partially closed. Felicity held her breath and gave a soft knock, hoping beyond all hope that Isabel was already gone for the evening so she could just drop the document on her desk.

"Come in," came the familiar female voice. The odds were just not in her favor tonight, Felicity thought to herself.

Entering the office, she put on her best fake smile possible. "Oli-I mean, Mr. Queen asked me to drop this off with you," she stated quickly, handing the document to Isabel and then turning to exit the office.

"Can I give you a piece of advice," Isabel said, causing Felicity to pull up short and turn back to the woman. Isabel, ensuring that she had the younger woman's full attention, stood up so they were both at eye level. "There may be some men in this world that would be willing to settle down with their secretary, Ms. Smoak, but I highly doubt Oliver Queen is one of them."

Felicity could feel her blood boiling, the uncontrollable blush creeping up her face and her eyes watering at the insinuation that Isabel was making about her and Oliver. Knowing that she could lose her job if she said what she was thinking, she kept her mouth shut, glaring at the other woman.

Isabel continued with her unsolicited advice. "I get the impression you are a smart girl, so I'm sure you see the logic in moving on with your infatuations to someone else, someone more your….caliber," she finished, giving Felicity a smug smile.

Felicity laughed out loud at that comment, because she knew if she didn't make some kind of sound, she was about to start sobbing in front of this vile, control-hungry she-devil. Screw her job. "At the risk of being insubordinate, Ms. Rochev, I'll tell you the same thing I told Mr. Queen in regards to whatever it is between the two of you. He deserves better." With that, Felicity spun around, retreating from the shocked glare on Isabel's face.

She should have felt some satisfaction in sharing her opinion with that witch, but sadly, the only emotion that Felicity felt at the moment was unbearable pain. She quickly slipped into the stairwell, knowing that if she saw Oliver right then she would lose it and the dam would break. Running down a few flights she ducked back into the offices, knowing she would probably only come across the janitorial staff at this time of the evening, then headed into the nearest dark conference room. She shut the door behind her, leaving the lights off, and then leaned against the wall, out of sight of anyone passing by. Slowly sliding down the wall into a sitting position she felt the tears start, covering her mouth with both hands to try and mute the audible sobs that wracked her petite frame.

_An hour later..._

Oliver was glancing up at Felicity's desk for what felt like the millionth time that evening, unable to focus on the latest financial statement numbers from the London division of Queen Consolidated. It had been over an hour since Isabel had stormed into his office demanding he fire Felicity, refusing to share with him why, but whatever Felicity had said or done had Isabel fuming. He had finally appeased her by agreeing that he would talk to Felicity to ensure whatever had happened would never be repeated again. He pushed back the initial anger her words had produced, thinking back to their exchange…

_What does she have on you, Oliver? Does she have a recording of you two "meeting" in the conference room late one night that she's holding over your head? Because believe me, I can make something like that, and her, disappear in a matter of hours._

The words at the time had filled his vision with red, and it had taken all of his control not to physically throw the woman out of his office.

_Isabel, I will say this only one more time; there is nothing going on between myself and Ms. Smoak. And if I ever hear you threaten so much as a hair on her head in the future, we'll see who has more power to make something, or someone, disappear quickly._

He massaged the back of his neck, still furious at the cheapness Isabel imparted on his relationship with Felicity. There wasn't a single person he trusted more than her, even questioning if he would go to Diggle or Felicity first if in a true crisis that only allowed him to go to one of them. Felicity had seen both the best and worst of him and was still at his side, literally night and day, doing whatever he asked, even when she didn't always agree with him.

Oliver still wondered what had been said between the two women, knowing that Felicity wasn't the type to just go off on someone without a good reason.

Noticing the movement out of the corner of his eye, he saw the petite blonde coming back to her desk without so much as a side glance toward him, quickly gathering her bag and coat, obviously trying to make a hurried getaway. He strode quickly to his doorway to cut her off before she left the outer office.

He noticed the red rims around her eyes, a clear indication that she had been crying. "Felicity…" he said softly, instinctively reaching toward her. She stepped back from his outreached hand, the gesture like a dagger in his gut.

"There's nothing more to say, Oliver. I'm going home now, unless there's something work related you need me to do," she finished, keeping her eyes cast down, clutching her computer bag as if it were a lifeline.

He let his hands fall stiffly to his sides, exhaling slowly and relaxing his hands as he realized he had them balled into fists, anger washing over him to think that Isabel had upset her enough to cause her to cry. The fact that he had a part in her hurt was something he tried to stamp down, not ready to deal with that guilt quite yet. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry about whatever happened between you and Isabel, and I won't ask you to deliver anything to her for me anymore. I'll deal directly with her or her administrative assistant in the future." At the mention of Isabel Felicity glanced up, the flash of anger and hurt in her eyes causing another slash to his stomach.

"I'm surprised she didn't demand I be fired," she stated crisply. Taking note of the look on Oliver's face, she knew that was exactly what Isabel had requested. She also knew that given the fact he was apologizing, her job was still intact.

At the anguish on his face she knew she wasn't making things easy on him, and she suddenly felt guilty for pushing him about the whole thing with Isabel, and bringing the woman's wrath on his head. She wasn't stupid to think he had been celibate since coming back from the island, and who was she to question him on who he was with? She made a quick decision, realizing that no matter what, she just wanted things to go back to normal between the two of them, regardless of her own feelings. He was going through enough with his mother's trial and having had to see someone from his time on the island while in Russia.

She was the one now to take a step toward Oliver, unable to stop herself from reaching out to him to provide comfort, and an olive branch. She noted the quizzical look he gave her as she gently squeezed his forearm. "I'm sorry for saying anything about what happened with you and Isabel in the first place. It's none of my business, and I should have stuck with my original comment that what happens in Russia stays in Russia. I don't want this to hurt the other work we're doing. So I promise I won't bring it up anymore, and we'll never have to talk about it again, agreed?"

The look of relief was apparent on Oliver's face. "Thank you," he said, genuinely feeling blessed for having such a forgiving friend in Felicity. He had been afraid that this was something that would continue to come between them, and the last thing he wanted was any distance between them. He still wasn't sure what had prompted him to want to sleep with Isabel, as the thought of it now was so unappealing. The alcohol and her story of hardship had probably brought out some pity in him, but he was surprised he had dropped his guard with her. He wondered if trying to prove to Isabel about how there was nothing going on between him and Felicity may have been part of it as well. However, Felicity didn't need to hear the rumors going around about the two of them. She had been through enough.

Felicity could practically hear the wheels turning in Oliver's head as she watched a myriad of expressions cross his face while he stood there, staring at her. After a moment, she finally took a step back, noticing that the movement brought Oliver out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat, and she could have sworn there was a slight blush in his cheeks as he stepped out of her path, signaling the end of their conversation.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Oliver," she said quietly, giving him her soft smile as she walked passed him.

"Goodnight, Felicity," he replied, giving her a final wave as she glanced once more at him, then returning to his own office. He let out a big sigh as he fell back into his seat, knowing he should be relieved that he wouldn't have to rehash the whole Isabel thing with Felicity anymore. However, something nagged at him about the fact that Felicity had put him at ease once again when he felt a strain between them.

The last part of his exchange with Isabel came back to him just then, and he knew now that what she said may be true, which did not sit well with him. In fact, the relief he had initially felt at Felicity's promise of sweeping yet another of his missteps under the rug was replaced with a sense of unease, especially given Isabel's prediction.

_Fine, you can keep your tech girl for now, especially since I'm sure you'll sweet talk her into forgiving you for what she surely sees as a temporary lapse in judgment. But I'm just curious how long it is before she smartens up and sees how one-sided your relationship is, whether it's platonic or not. How much longer will she keep you on that pedestal before it erodes away; she stops looking at you like you're some Greek god, realizing you will never truly be able to undo whatever damage was done to you on that island? What will you do then, Oliver, when your personal cheerleader decides she's been used enough and SHE'S the one who deserves better?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to those who reviewed the story, and for those who chose not to add a review, I hope you are enjoying the story and would love to hear from you. I have a very loose outline for this story in my head, so not sure yet how many chapters, but I will keep it going as long as the story has fuel. This next chapter focuses on select events of episode 7 with Count Vertigo, and I tried to stay as close to the actual episode script lines as possible.**

_Ollie, the jury!?_

_I have to go…_

Oliver could feel himself kick into survival mode as he made his way to Verdant to suit up before heading to Queen Consolidated to get to Felicity. He was trying to stamp down the fear that had made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end at the sound of Count Vertigo's voice on his phone as he threatened Felicity's life.

_You see, I find this not unattractive blonde getting all up in my business, and what does she have on her? A Queen Consolidated ID badge…_

Oliver knew he had promised Felicity no more killing, but he now regretted not finishing the Count when he had the chance. There was just some evil that couldn't be reformed he was learning.

He figured Thea was probably pissed at him for ditching her at the court house while they awaited the jury to come back with a verdict, but even his mother's trial was no longer a priority to him. It was all Felicity right now, and there was nothing that could have kept Oliver from getting to her at that moment.

Arriving at Verdant, he took the stairs two at a time as he descended into his secret lair, giving John Diggle a glare as he started stripping down, getting ready to don his Hood outfit. He had called Digg on his ride in, laying in to him first for letting Felicity go off by herself, but then letting up a bit as he heard the anguish in his bodyguard's voice. Digg was the first to blame himself, and Oliver chewing him out didn't help anything, he knew, but it was all that was keeping the creeping terror in his heart from surfacing and rendering him paralyzed.

"Has security figured out what's going on yet?" Oliver asked, zipping up his jacket and making his way to his bow and arrows.

Diggle checked the monitor once more. "Nothing; they still have no clue someone is even in the building," he finished, shaking his head unbelievably. He strode over to Oliver, the sweat still beading on his forehead from the poison running through his body. "Let me go with you Oliver, I need to help get her out of there," he pleaded.

Oliver brushed past him, shaking his head as he started heading toward the stairs, bypassing the green paint he usually put around his eyes to shadow his features. There was no time, and it was pointless since the Count already knew who he was. If it wasn't for the utility of his outfit allowing him full motion to shoot his arrows he would have skipped putting the suit on altogether. "I need you to get to that mobile flu shot clinic to get your hands on whatever is in those syringes the Count has been infecting people with. Get it back here and wait for me to bring her back," he finished, turning one last time to look at Digg.

Diggle gave a nod, looking relieved to be doing something to help. As he went to grab his coat and keys Oliver ran up the steps, ready to do whatever it took to save Felicity.

_At Queen Consolidated…_

Oliver left the stairwell, silently making his way to his office suite, the terror starting to seize his heart again at the thought that the Count had been here alone with Felicity for the last thirty minutes since he had gotten that fateful phone call from Felicity's cell. He kept the hood off, wanting to make sure he was able to see all angles around him so he wouldn't be caught off guard. He heard a whimper from the conference room, feeling his entire body go rigid at that slight sound, willing himself to relax. It was crucial that he stay calm and not overreact to whatever scene he was going to find. It was Felicity's best chance of surviving at this point.

When he came within sight of the conference room his gut clenched at the scene. Felicity was tied to a chair, her cheeks tear stained and her shoulders rigid, the Count directly behind her, using her as a human shield. He was nonchalantly flipping her pony tail, making Felicity flinch at every touch. Oliver had never wanted to murder someone so badly at that moment. He clutched at his bow and arrow, ready to make a move if needed.

"Pretty swanky offices; you can see all the destruction that your mother caused from up here," the Count said menacingly behind Felicity.

Oliver clenched his teeth. "What do you want?"

The Count chuckled, replying, "world peace and personal satisfaction, though not necessarily in that order." He suddenly repositioned his hands, placing them on Felicity's shoulders and moving his fingers toward her neck. Oliver's heart sped up, his self-control teetering at the edge.

"You poisoned me and put me in a hole!" the Count exclaimed, the rage and his insanity more evident on his face than at any other time Oliver had encountered the monster. "You have no idea how much I hated you for that," he continued. Then, he added "turns out someone else hates you, too."

Oliver was caught off guard with that comment. Before he could think he asked, "who?"

"Who?" the Count mocked. "Oh, you're going to be surprised when you find out. He's a man of means. Set me up with my new operation so I could draw you out."

"To do what?" Oliver asked only to see the Count draw a pistol and point it at him.

"This!" the Count screamed, emptying the pistol in Oliver's direction as he dove toward cover.

Settling behind a turned over desk Oliver called out to him, hoping to keep his attention and divert it from Felicity. "You're going to have to try harder!"

"Done!" the Count yelled, scrambling to cut Felicity's restraints, then dragging her up by her ponytail to pull her up as a full body shield between him and Oliver. "Come on," he yelled at Felicity, the blonde giving a cry of pain at the pull on her scalp. Oliver immediately popped up, bow armed and ready to launch an arrow at his target, rage filling him at seeing Felicity before him, her head back, neck exposed.

"So now we move on to Plan B," the count said, holding the double syringe to Felicity's throat.

Felicity, seeing the look in Oliver's eyes knew what was coming. "Oliver, don't! Not for me," she got out, dread replacing her terror at being held by this madman. Her brain was working frantically to think of how she could de-escalate the situation. Oliver had already killed to save her before, and she did not want to see him have to do it again.

"Quiet, please," the Count whispered harshly into her ear, "I'm threatening. Lower your bow," he commanded Oliver, rejoicing at the look of resignation on the archer's face. And was that fear he saw? He tightened his grip on the blonde, enjoying the fact that Oliver Queen was being brought down by threats to this wisp of a girl in front of him.

"Your problem is with me," Oliver pleaded, relieved that the calmness in his voice didn't portray the fear he was feeling. It was making him sick inside that his bow and arrow were held down, unable to be pointed at his intended target. "It's not with her."

Reveling in the feeling of power over Oliver, the Count decided to bring Queen to his knees. "Well then, consider this your penalty for making me go to Plan B in the first place!" He moved to plunge the double syringe into Felicity's neck, but felt a blow to his chest, like someone had punched him square into the heart. He felt two more blows, looking down and realizing belatedly that they were arrows buried deep into his chest. He felt pain shoot out from his heart, falling back helplessly into the glass window, the sky falling away as everything went black.

Felicity sat crumpled on the floor, trying to bring her breathing back to normal at the realization that she was no longer in danger. Suddenly Oliver's face was directly in front of her, the concern for her evident in his eyes.

"Hey,hey, hey," he said, looking her up and down, trying to reassure himself that she was okay. She jumped a bit at his sudden appearance. "Shhh, shhh, it's all right; you're safe," he finished, gently squeezing her upper arm, feeling his own body start to relax at knowing she was here in front of him, in one piece, breathing and looking unharmed.

"Oh," Felicity exclaimed, noticing the rip in his jacket sleeve and the trail of blood from it. "You were shot," she said, reaching out toward his injured arm.

Oliver gave his arm a sideway glance, registering the pain, but not caring since his only concern at that moment was Felicity. He reached up and cradled her cheek to bring her attention back to his face. "Hey, it's nothing," he stated, genuinely not caring about his own injury and totally focused on her. He was struck once again at how selfless this girl was, after everything she had been through, concerned about him before herself.

He stood up, the reality that he had taken another life washing over him. He knew he should feel guilty as he looked down at the lifeless body below him on the car where the Count had landed, but at that moment, knowing Felicity was safe, he knew he would have made the exact same call over and over in that situation. He had done what he had to do, and he would have no regrets as long as Felicity was safe.

He turned back to her, helping her stand as she struggled to her feet. "We've got to get you out of here, before the police and security get up here," he stated, starting to steer Felicity toward the door.

"Wait, I'll stay," she said, stepping back from Oliver's grasp. She felt a moment of panic at the physical removal of his touch, but knew she had to get him out of there as soon as possible before his secret identity was exposed. "Someone has got to explain what happened here, and you need to get back to the court house for your mother," she finished, starting to push him toward the stairwell door.

Knowing she made complete sense, he still hesitated, not wanting to leave her, but sure she was right about what they needed to do next. He stepped toward her one more time, his hand coming up to her cheek again so she would look at him directly.

"Felicity," he started, feeling a wave of protectiveness and something else grip his chest, wanting to tell her how he felt, but not exactly sure what he felt to put it into words.

Misunderstanding his hesitation, she responded, "I know what to say, Oliver, don't worry, they won't be able to trace any of this back to you as the vigilante."

He scowled at her for a moment, but then hearing voices coming from the stairwell, stepped over to the opened elevator door that had been locked on the top floor, presumably by the Count bringing Felicity up that way. He unlocked the elevator hold, jumping up to push the ceiling tile so he could climb up to the elevator shaft to make his escape. He gave Felicity one last smile before jumping up to pull himself out of sight as the doors closed, hearing the police slam out of the stairwell doors and Felicity's voice calling out to them, relief evident in her voice.

_Below Verdant two hours later…_

Felicity and Diggle sat watching the monitor as the news station covered the verdict of the Moira Queen trial. They both turned as they heard Oliver come down to join them, relief on their faces at seeing him. The three exchanged congratulations on Moira's verdict, although all were surprised by it, none more so than Oliver. He was relieved to hear, and NOT surprised, that his dynamic duo already had a vaccine being distributed thanks to QC's Applied Sciences Division. Diggle had just made his exit, and Felicity and Oliver were about to do the same when Felicity stopped him.

"Oliver," she called to him. He immediately came over to her. "I, uh, just wanted to say thank you."

"Yeah," he replied, happy to have been there for her when she needed him. He had originally planned on taking her home, but thought she might appreciate the distance since he was ultimately the reason she had been kidnapped in the first place. If he had been there when she and Diggle had made their discovery concerning the mobile flu shot clinic none of this would have happened, and the guilt was building in his head at the thought that she could have been seriously harmed, or worse. He tried to shrug off the feeling, focusing on the fact that the Count was gone permanently and his family was set to celebrate his mother's release.

"And I'm sorry," Felicity added, catching him off guard.

"For what?" he genuinely wondered aloud.

"I got myself into trouble again, and you killed him." Oliver took a step closer to her, noting the anguish in her eyes. Felicity continued, "You killed again, and I am sorry that I was the one to put you in a position where you had to make that kind of choice."

Oliver stepped even closer, wanting to pull Felicity into his embrace, but settling for holding the hand that was peeking out of the blanket that she had wrapped around her. "Felicity, he had you, and he was going to hurt you; there was no choice to make," he finished, staring into her eyes to make sure she could see how truthful he was being.

She nodded, overcome with emotion and not wanting to break down in front of him, knowing his family was waiting for him. She let go of his hand first, watching as he turned and walked away, still feeling the guilt of having put him into that position of killing someone for her safety.

It took everything in Oliver to separate himself from her, but the emotions that were rising in him at the memory of the Count holding that double syringe at Felicity's neck were too strong. He found himself yearning to reach up and caress her face again, remembering the feel of her skin from the last time he had touched her like that after Helena had tied Felicity up in her office. It was those stolen touches that he tried to avoid for fear that emotions he wasn't ready to face would come pouring out. Felicity deserved so much more than he could give her, and to start something with her, no matter how much he wanted it, scared him. He didn't know what he feared more; him eventually sabotaging his relationship with her, like he'd done with every other woman in his life, or her figuring out just how damaged he was, and deciding she couldn't love something so broken. Either way it wouldn't end well, so it was something he knew he shouldn't start.

_Later that night…_

Felicity pulled her covers more snuggly around her as she lay in bed, trying to block out the images every time she closed her eyes as she tried to fall asleep. She had made her way home directly from Verdant, but had taken her time getting ready for bed, soaking in a long hot bath, trying to wash away the feeling of the Count's hands on her neck and shoulders. She had donned her most comfortable flannel pajamas, trying to watch some recordings from her DVR, but finding difficulty focusing on what was happening on the screen in front of her. She immediately wondered if this was how Oliver felt after everything that had happened to him. Her heart sank at the thought, feeling a greater appreciation for her boss.

She finally rose from her bed, heading out to the living room. She got comfortable on the couch, turning on the TV and pulling up her standby movie that always made her feel safe and warm inside. Although Oliver was not technically a true Robin Hood, the movie version with Kevin Costner was enough to remind her of his good intentions and desire to keep those around him safe. The acting was horrible, but the parallels with Oliver were endearing, from Robin's years away from his family fighting the crusades, losing his father, and turning from the spoiled young man into the hero. It warmed her heart and always put her at ease. She drifted off, a small smile on her face.

Oliver sat on the fire escape, watching over her, so tempted to knock on the window, knowing Felicity would invite him in willingly. He also knew that if he acted on his feelings and took her into his arms, giving into his desires, he was confident she would accept him, regardless of the repercussions of their actions. Seeing her so vulnerable and unable to do anything about it at Queen Consolidated had brought all of those feelings to the front of his mind. He was torn whether he should drag her to the mansion and keep her barricaded in his room for the next 50 years, away from any harm, or transfer her to London or Japan at one of QC's world headquarter offices, as far away from him as possible. He had failed everyone around him, and it scared him to death to think he was doing the same thing to Felicity. His mother had been dragged into the Undertaking in his absence, his sister had her share of issues with him being away, and what had happened to Tommy weighed so heavily on his heart he couldn't even think about it. Even Laurel and Sarah had been destroyed because of his actions. No one was safe from his destructive nature, and no matter how much he wanted to show Felicity how he felt, he was reminded again of how badly it would all end. He realized then he couldn't go on in this limbo much longer. He needed to make a choice, and soon….


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**My personal feeling is that I want Olicity to go the distance, and assuming that Arrow will be around for at least a few more seasons (even more if the producers play their cards right), I think there is a way to draw it out to keep interest while maintaining the integrity of the characters. The show is, after all, about the Green Arrow and Oliver Queen's struggle to make himself whole again after the horrendous experiences he had on the island those five years he was gone, while doing all he can to save Starling City. However, in fan fiction land, we get to sometimes fast forward that timeline and focus on the relationships. This next chapter is where Oliver makes a decision about his feelings for Felicity, and the consequences of that decision. This is all off-script now, so hopefully it keeps your interest. Enjoy…**

It had been two weeks since the incident with the Count at Queen Consolidated, and in looking around the top floor you never would have guessed the chaos that had ensued that night. It still sent a chill down Oliver's spine as he thought of the Count threatening Felicity.

Not surprisingly, the petite blonde had bounced back better than anyone had expected. She had thrown herself into her work, seemingly unaffected by the events of that night. Oliver occasionally caught her looking at him sadly, sure she was still full of guilt over feeling like she forced him to kill the Count. However, no matter how many times Oliver went through the scenario in his head, he could not find a different outcome that would have ended in her safety. It was something he hoped he never had to repeat. They never did talk about the Count after that night, and Oliver hoped any lingering regrets she had would soon pass regarding his actions in saving her.

In fact, they had barely spoken to each other at all since that night, other than him asking her if she was doing okay, or actual work related discussions. Felicity had initially dug into finding where the Count had gotten the financial backing to put the mobile flu shot clinic into motion, but had run into one dead end after another. After a week of research, they had decided to put it aside, thinking perhaps the Count had been making the whole story up. The entire team was convinced he had been insane to begin with, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Things had been relatively quiet in Starling City over the last two weeks, which gave time for Oliver to ponder his other dilemma; what to do about his feelings for Felicity. He had continued his nightly visits to her apartment, ensuring she was home safe and sound every night. The urge to tap on her window and gain entrance had become stronger, and he feared that eventually his self-control would falter.

He sat back in his chair in his office, realizing that his train of thought was not on the documents on his monitor in front of him, so why bother pretending he was reading them. His eyes then settled on Felicity, who was engrossed in whatever she was working on. She sported a classic women's two-piece skirt suit with a deep v-neck blouse. His eyes lingered on her exposed neck and chest, which brought him back to the night of the Count kidnapping her, his hands having menacingly settled on her shoulders and neck that night. He quickly pushed the thought aside, the terror of that moment still too fresh in his memory. He realized Felicity was now looking at him with a frown, and then gave her a smile, turning back to his monitor. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her get up from her desk and enter his office.

"Oliver, is everything okay?" she asked, genuine concern on her face. Leave it to her, he thought, to be concerned about him, the guy who could take out someone within 100 yards with a single arrow.

"Yeah," he lied, "I'm fine. Just trying to make sense of this nonsense in London," he finished, gesturing toward his computer monitor.

Felicity came to his side, leaning down next to him to get a better look at the screen. Oliver felt a jolt of electricity at the feel of her hair brushing softly along the back of his hand, wanting to reach up and run his fingers through the blonde silken locks. He couldn't help but stare at the point of contact. Felicity, looking at the document, turned to Oliver, and noticing where his gaze fell, quickly pulled her hair back behind her ear, incorrectly assuming the contact had been bothering him.

"These are hackers," she stated simply, pulling herself up to lean against his desk. "From everything the head of IT is reporting in London, there's been a constant barrage of network infiltration going on. Do you know what kind of firewall technology they're using there?" she asked, kicking into her IT girl mode.

Oliver gave a soft chuckle, being reminded yet again that there was an enormous brain behind the beautiful visage in front of him. "I have no idea, but I could probably find out."

Turning his keyboard toward her, Felicity quickly pulled up his Internet Explorer, logging into some Queen Consolidated site that he had never laid eyes on before. "Good thing I kept all of my IT access when you transferred me into the EA position," she mumbled under her breath, quickly typing various commands and characters that made no sense to Oliver. It all looked like gibberish to him, but within 60 seconds Felicity had the answer she was looking for, and was typing an email to the VP of Operations in London who had sent the original information on the issue, giving instructions on what needed to be done and who within IT in the states they could contact for assistance. She turned to Oliver. "Okay if I hit send? Technically it's your email account, but I threw in a couple of typos to make it more authentic as if it were coming directly from you," she added with a self-satisfying smile on her face.

Oliver gave her an exasperated frown, partially amazed at her ability to problem solve a situation but at the same time slightly offended at her dig on his typing skills. Granted he knew his business writing skills weren't perfect, but he did feel like he had gotten better since taking over the CEO position from his mother.

"Sure," he finally answered, watching as Felicity hit the "Enter" button on his keyboard, the email closing and the screen reverting back to his inbox.

It was just at that moment that a new email popped into his inbox from Isabel with the subject of "Drinks later?" Oliver saw Felicity's body language change immediately, although she didn't say a word; she just stepped away from him, giving him a final tight smile and walking back to her desk.

"Thank you," he called after her, truly appreciating her help with the London issue, and silently cursing Isabel for ruining the carefree moment he had been experiencing with Felicity. Felicity gave him a little wave in acknowledgement without looking back, the rigidness evident in her posture at her computer. Oliver sighed out loud, again berating himself for the Isabel slip, and debating in his head what to do about Felicity.

He had been finding himself reading something or getting off of a conference call and immediately turning toward Felicity's desk to see if she was there to share it with, happy when she was there, and always disappointed if she wasn't. He had started asking her to help him with the most mundane tasks, like figuring out how to copy a one-sided document to a two-sided one, rejoicing in her nearness and things like the smell of her hair in those moments. He was starting to feel like he was the little kid who had the crush on the popular girl in school, and it was unnerving. He was Oliver Queen, world renowned playboy and billionaire, heir to the Queen Consolidated Empire. How had he been brought down to his knees by this small blonde ball of energy?

The worst part was that while he was going along with Felicity's plan of putting the whole Isabel incident behind them, he saw how the other woman's presence affected Felicity, and it ate him up inside. As much as he knew his feelings were growing for Felicity, he knew she deserved more than what he could offer her, especially since his role as the vigilante had already caused her harm. As long as he had to play the dual role of Oliver Queen CEO/playboy as well as the Hood persona, he knew there wasn't enough left over to be a decent partner to someone, no matter how much he cared about them.

Looking over at Felicity, then back at the email that Isabel had sent him, he knew it was time to take the high road. He got up, making his way to Felicity's desk.

"Felicity, I have a favor to ask you," he started, knowing if he stopped to think about what he was doing he would change his mind.

"Sure, anything," she responded, the sincerity evident in her voice.

"How long do you think it would take to resolve the firewall issue in London if they have the right IT resources available," he asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible despite the growing unease in his stomach at what he was about to ask her to do.

"Well, given the right people and assuming they'll be able to get the right hardware in place, I'd say 30 to 60 days, including a full round of system and unit testing of course," she answered, again in that IT girl mode that he found so oddly attractive.

He couldn't believe he was doing this, but he knew it was for the best.

"I think you should go to London to oversee the entire implementation. I can have the corporate jet ready to go in the morning," he blurted loudly. He held his breath, waiting for her reaction.

She started to frown. "Can you be away from corporate headquarters that long?" she asked, not fully understanding what he was saying.

"No, I won't be going with, actually, it would just be you," he stated. She just stared at him, the wheels turning in her head. He wished at that moment that he could read her mind, because her face was completely blank as she just stared at him. Not sure what more to say he finally added, "If you need more time to get ready I can put it off for a couple of days, but I'd really feel better about the whole situation knowing you were there handling it," he finished, wondering if she could read into the lie he had just told her.

Felicity gripped the arms of her chair, casting her eyes down for a moment to try to collect herself. He was sending her away. Clearly she had made things too uncomfortable for him with the whole Isabel thing and now he was getting rid of her so he wouldn't have to feel bad about what happened every time he looked at her. That or perhaps he had been more affected by having to kill the Count than he was letting on, and seeing her was a constant reminder of breaking his promise to Tommy.

The list of possible missteps she had made was endless. She let out her breath slowly, trying to remain composed. She had thought things were finally starting to go back to normal after a few intense moments between them, first with the Count incident, and then with some other odd moments while in the office or at their workspace under Verdant. She had thought a few times that Oliver had wanted to open up to her about something, but then the moment had passed and she convinced herself it had all been her imagination. Obviously it had been completely in her head. He had apparently been waiting for the right opportunity to come up with an excuse to put some separation between them, and the IT issue in London fit the bill.

She put on her best fake smile, not wanting to show any sign at how affected she was by his request. "Tomorrow is fine. I should be able to manage transitioning my Executive Assistant responsibilities to someone else in the office from London. I mean, it's not like I'm really an EA, right!?" she finished, trying to sound light-hearted.

Oliver felt his heart sink, realizing in that moment that he had been hoping for her to put up some kind of fuss about needing to be there to help him and Digg with their nightly activities, or still wanting to research the mobile clinic. "Okay then," he stated quietly. "I'll contact the pilot and let him know the plan."

Felicity, keeping her upbeat persona, added, "I'll arrange with Diggle to give me a ride in the morning so I don't have to expense leaving my car in long-term parking at the airport for two months." She picked up her phone and started texting their mutual friend, dismissing Oliver by turning her back to him in the process.

He nodded, heading back to his desk, feeling his heart race at the thought of his best friend being gone for two months, but telling himself over and over that it was for the best, and some distance between them would help him get over whatever emotional tie he had to her. He was no good for her, and he would be able to focus on what was important if she was far away from him, and harm's way.

He kept telling himself these things throughout the rest of the day, keeping a watchful eye on Felicity the whole time. She never looked at him once. At five o'clock he watched as she grabbed her stuff, leaving the office suite without even a sideway glance at him. He told himself again it was for the best.

So why did he feel like there was a hole in his heart the size of his fist?!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Wow! I appreciate all of the positive feedback and followers/favorites. It has been a long time since I have written anything, so nice to see that others are enjoying, and you feel I am capturing the personalities of the characters relatively well.**

**I was a little disappointed at this week's episode with Barry Allen and the lack of Olicity in the show, but am trusting that the writers are keeping the Olicity fan base in mind for future episodes, and building the relationship into the long-term plan.**

**This next chapter will show how Oliver has been handling being separated from Felicity, as well as a major event that may have dire consequences for one or both of them.**

Oliver reviewed the email again, letting his vision linger on her name whenever it was mentioned. He wasn't surprised that the upgrades she was putting into place in London were going better than anyone expected. The VP of Operations, Nigel Thorton, couldn't say enough good things about Felicity. She seemed to have embedded herself deeply into the IT department across the pond and was loved by the entire team. She had that way of endearing herself to those around her with her honesty and genuine kindness.

He had hoped that after five weeks of her being gone he would have stopped thinking about her almost every waking moment. However, he found that his entire week was built up around the weekly one hour conference call with the London Operations team, Felicity now included; the anticipation leading up to the call was like a natural high for him, while the immediate hours following the call always found him making his way to Verdant and abusing the workout dummies until his body couldn't take it anymore. The following days would see him moping around and acting surly, which raised some unanswered questions from his sister and mother.

He checked the clock, feeling almost nervous at the prospect of hearing her voice within the next 10 minutes. He knew during the calls some of his questions were simple and made him out to almost be incompetent, but he loved to hear Felicity go off on one of her unfiltered rants that usually left the group getting a good chuckle at her expense, and warming Oliver's heart at the same time.

He went back to his inbox, selecting the personal email folder labeled "FS" where he was keeping all of her emails, no matter how mundane. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that Felicity's emails were almost as entertaining as her verbal babblings, especially if she was sending them at the end of her day when she was obviously tired and her guard was down. He started going through them again, starting with the oldest, which was brief and to the point.

To: Oliver Queen

From: Felicity Smoak

Subject: Arrived Safely

Per your request earlier today, letting you know I arrived safely at Heathrow Airport. On my way to the hotel and will be reporting to the London QC Operations Centre tomorrow midday local time to meet the team. I will provide periodic updates to you as appropriate on progress.

Felicity Smoak

IT Networking Consultant

Queen Consolidated

He had been slightly shaken at the formality of that first email, but quickly shoved aside his personal feelings knowing that Felicity hadn't been happy about the new work assignment and was letting him off easy by not questioning his real reason for sending her to London. Felicity wasn't dumb. Oliver knew he probably deserved to have her rant and rave at him, but in true Felicity fashion, she trusted in his judgment and did as was expected. The guilt at how easily she acquiesced to his decisions nagged at him periodically, but he kept telling himself this was for her own good, whether she realized it or not.

The tone of her emails had slowly warmed up over time, moving from painfully formal to playful but still professional. The latest few had been related to the project she was working on, but with quick blurbs about some sight-seeing she was planning on doing that weekend. The only part that didn't sit well with him was her always making reference to "we took the tram to..." or "we laughed so hard…". She never mentioned any names, and he had no idea how many people she was incorporating into the term "we" but it was enough to cause a bit of jealousy to rear up in him.

Noticing the time, he jumped onto the conference call, waiting for London to join. It was still early in Starling City, but would be early afternoon in London with the time difference. Oliver sat on the line, watching as the minutes ticked by, growing slightly annoyed as no one joined after 5 minutes past the hour. Nigel and his team had been prompt and professional, always getting the call started on time in the past, whether the entire team was there or not, with some personnel joining late from other calls, but never had he waited this long.

Just then Eleanor, the replacement Executive Assistant he was "borrowing" from the Vice President of Human Resources, knocked on his door. He could see her stricken expression through the glass and quickly waved her in, leaving his call on speaker phone, the instrumental hold music playing softly in the background.

The woman had been part of Queen Consolidated for over twenty years, and the most professional of all of the administrative assistants working for executive leadership. She was much more formal than he was used to, but she was good at her job and had actually helped him improve some things around the office that had been sliding under Felicity's watch, given Felicity was still new to the role.

Oliver felt a chill run down his spine as he noted the EA wringing her hands, her eyes glassed over, clearly affected by whatever she was about to tell him. Whatever she was about to share with him could not be good given her demeanor.

"What is it, Eleanor," he asked harshly, swiftly berating himself for his tone at the woman's obvious distress. She jumped slightly, her lower lip quivering slightly.

"I just got off of the phone with the head of security at the London office, Mr. Queen," she got out, her face looking like it was ready to crumble.

Oliver wanted to scream at the woman for keeping him in suspense, wanting to know what was going on. Just then Isabel burst into his office.

"Oliver, turn your TV on to BBC," Isabel directed, giving Eleanor only a sideway glance as she went to stand in front of the large flat-screen mounted on the side wall in the sitting area of his office, her arms crossed tightly, the tension obvious on her face.

Eleanor, regaining some of her usual composure, stepped over to the credenza where the remote was sitting. She turned toward Oliver as she turned the television on while giving him the information she had, hoping it would help put him at ease.

"It was an explosion, Mr. Queen, in one of outlying buildings of our London headquarters," she stated. Oliver stepped around his desk to stand next to Isabel as Eleanor found the BBC channel right away. The volume was turned down all the way and the only thing they saw were emergency vehicles racing toward a plume of smoke a short distance behind the recognizable QC London main building.

"Turn it up, please," Oliver stated through clenched teeth, his hands fisted by his sides, his entire body rigid at the sight of the chaos on the screen. Eleanor pressed the volume button, the room now filled with the sound of sirens and the British accent of the reporter giving an update on the situation.

"…two separate explosions, both relatively large enough to blow out the windows in the adjacent office buildings here behind me," the young woman stated, gesturing behind her. "Again, for those just joining, about fifteen minutes ago the London offices of Queen Consolidated…"

Just then another loud explosion rocked the screen, the sound deafening, causing all three of them to instinctively jump back from the flat-screen. Eleanor, yelping at the sound, fell back into one of the arm chairs. Oliver had shoved Isabel behind him without thinking, with her falling into the black leather couch. She looked at him, first angry at his action, then slightly confused that protecting her would be his initial reaction. Before she could say anything about it Oliver had turned around, a look of determination on his face.

He pulled Isabel up, albeit causing her to stumble a bit, but she quickly righted herself. "Isabel, try to get through to Nigel Thorton to see what the hell is going on there. If you can't get him, start working your way down the hierarchy until you find someone that knows something, then conference them into my cell number." He turned then to Eleanor as Isabel exited his office, helping the older woman up, trying to be gentler with her after practically toppling Isabel. The woman was staring at the television, clearly shocked by the events happening, the screen shaky from the camera operator trying to reposition himself as people were rushing towards the news crew amidst the chaos. "Eleanor," he stated softly, trying to bring her attention back to him, knowing he needed everyone poised and focused. She slowly turned her gaze to him. "Eleanor, I need you to get that head of security from London back on the phone as soon as possible, do you understand?"

Eleanor stared at Oliver for a moment, regaining her composure, his request finally sinking in. "Yes, Mr. Queen," she stated softly, "I'll get right on that."

Giving her an encouraging nod he quickly made his way back to his desk, grabbing his cell phone and pulling up his contacts, cursing at the fact that Felicity's last name was so far down in the alphabet. He hit the call button, putting the phone up to his ear, waiting impatiently for the call to go through. All he got was an annoying beeping sound, and then a recorded message stating the network was down in the area he was trying to reach, and to call back again. He pulled up Diggle's number then, hitting the call button only to hear Diggle's phone start to ring as his friend came running into his office, the look on his face evident that he had heard what was going on in London.

Without clarifying who he was referring to, the first question out of Diggle's mouth was "did you get a hold of her yet?" Oliver gave a tight shake of his head, the tension clear in the lines around his eyes. He was starting to feel the panic creep up, trying to not think about the possibilities of where or how Felicity was at that moment.

"Contact the QC hangar and have them ready the jet to take me to London, or the closest airport that's taking incoming traffic, as soon as possible," he instructed his friend, dialing his mother quickly to give her an update. Again, it seemed everyone wanted to know initially if he had heard from Felicity, and every time he had to say no it tore a bigger hole in his heart. She assured him she could handle whatever came up with Isabel there in Starling City from a public relations perspective, and he needed to get to London and figure out what happened. He thanked his mom, and then told her he loved her, which took her by surprise.

"Oliver," she said softly, bringing him up short from hanging up his phone. "I'm sure she's fine. Don't assume the worst. And call me when you know more, all right?"

He felt a tightening in his chest at his mother's words of reassurance. "Thanks, mom," he finished, then ended the call, striding out of the office to check with Isabel before he made his way to Verdant to grab some "essentials". If the situation was related to him as the Hood he figured he better have all the tools he needed to address it properly. Unfortunately, Felicity was one of his most important tools, getting him the information he always needed to manage these types of situations, or so he justified, his need to get to her as quickly as possible growing exponentially every second.

Eleanor was still on the phone, giving him a shake of her head to show her lack of progress on getting the security people back on the phone. However, Diggle ended his call, giving Oliver the good news that the jet would be ready to take off in 90 minutes. It wasn't as soon as Oliver would have liked, but that should give him the time he needed to get everything in order before take-off.

They made their way to Isabel's office. Oliver found himself practically colliding with Isabel as she was making her way to him. He grabbed her upper arms, steadying her before demanding to know what progress she had made.

Isabel read off of the note pad in her hand, obviously wanting to make sure she had the information correct before passing it on. She had never seen Oliver so focused, and the intensity and rigidness of his body made her almost recoil from him. The woman had exchanged words with Oliver before and had felt on even ground with him, but this version of him was not one she wanted to cross. "Hannah Pierce, who is a direct report to Nigel, is still trying to locate him. So far they're unsure what caused the explosions as the warehouses where they originated were supposed to have been empty or for long-term storage. Local authorities haven't ruled out terrorism yet, but they think it's highly unlikely since the explosions occurred in the warehouses versus the office buildings." Isabel hesitated, looking sympathetically at Oliver. His heart started racing, but he held very still, willing himself to remember his mother's recent words.

_Don't assume the worst…_

Isabel read the remaining portion from her note pad verbatim, without making eye contact with Oliver. "No confirmed casualties at this time; there was a group of approximately a dozen employees who were touring the entire campus when the explosions started, and no one knows where they were when everything started happening. Because of the excessive amount of smoke and concern about chemical vapors the rescue crews are still trying to make their way into the immediate area of the warehouses." Now she looked up at Oliver, her expression unreadable to him.

"The missing group was led by Nigel Thorton, and these are the names of those who were with him," she finished, flipping her note pad to the next page and handing it to Oliver, unable to read the names to him for fear of her emotions slipping. This was a corporate crisis and keeping a level head was critical at the moment. Given how she expected Oliver to react, she knew she may be the only one who could stay grounded through the ordeal.

He took the note pad from her, Diggle leaning over his shoulder to see the list as well. He appreciated neither Diggle nor Isabel commenting on the slight tremor in his hands.

He started down the list, reading each name individually from top to bottom, the employee's title and country included, going slowly, and deliberately trying to hold off the inevitable. At Diggle letting out a groan, as though he had just been punched in the gut, Oliver moved his eyes down to the bottom, as the list was alphabetical. There, just above Nigel's name, was the one name he would have given all of his wealth, even his own life, to not see on the list; it was his worst nightmare, and had him wishing for the first time since returning home that he had never been rescued from the island. The neatly printed words took his breath away…

FELICITY M SMOAK, IT OPERATIONS, US

**I know these chapters are moving relatively slow, with lots of angst and emotion, so if you feel I should speed up the events, feel free to comment. As I said before, I have a relatively loose outline of the overall story and the ultimate ending, but would love your feedback.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Thanks for the reviews, everyone. I'm truly humbled by the amazing positing feedback I am receiving. Thank you so much for that.**

**I have noted the correction to Felicity's middle initial and have updated the last chapter to reflect it as "M" for Megan (not sure how I missed that on the show). Also, thanks, quisinart4 for the tip on using "enmeshed" incorrectly. Didn't realize it held a negative connotation, so replaced it with "embedded" to reflect how well Felicity became a part of the IT department in London. Great catches, and keep the suggestions/corrections coming. **

**We now find Oliver is heading to London, unsure about what he will discover there. What was behind the explosions, and did it have anything to do with the Hood? And of course, will we see our favorite blonde IT girl again? Again, if there are comments/questions/typos, feel free to PM me or post a review with the information.**

Oliver felt numb as he and Diggle made their way across the Atlantic in the Queen Consolidated jet. They had received special approval from the British government to land at Heathrow, despite the restricted regulations in place in the hours following the explosions.

There was still no word on the missing employees, including Felicity. Oliver had been on the phone almost constantly since take-off with the London QC IT department, trying to think of all of the angles Felicity would have approached the situation. Asking for camera feeds around the affected areas from the last 12 hours, both Diggle and Oliver painstakingly reviewed them to see if there was any evidence of foul play leading up to the time of the explosions.

All of the video feeds nearest the destroyed warehouses had abruptly stopped transmitting at the time of the explosions, and since the feeds were remote, they were able to review all but one of them. The last one that the team in London was still trying to recover had stopped relaying video the previous day, which raised a huge red flag in Oliver's mind, one that he tucked away for later.

Diggle let out a deep sigh, rubbing his eyes after hours of viewing the video footage. "I'm not seeing anything that helps, Oliver," he stated resignedly, going back yet again to the beginning of the feed.

Oliver pulled up his phone again dialing Felicity's number for what felt like the thousandth time, holding his breath as he waited for the call to go through. At the sound of the same recorded message he screamed "Damn it!" and threw his phone against the cushioned seat in front of him. The phone, unharmed, bounced back to rest at his feet on the floor in front of him. Suppressing the urge to stomp on it, knowing it was his only line of communication right now to get the information he so desperately desired, he picked it up, shoving it into his pocket. He went over again to the large black case with his bow and arrows, checking over everything to make sure he would be ready for whatever they found in London.

"Oliver," Diggle stated loudly, "you've got to keep it together, man, for Felicity's sake."

Oliver cringed at her name, the sound of it slicing another deep gash through his gut. The last update he had from London was that the rescue crews were now just able to get close enough to the buildings to extinguish the flames that were still blazing uncontrollably in the three affected buildings. He figured they would actually be on site before the crews were able to enter the buildings, and was hoping that by then cell phone service would be back up as well so he could continue to get updates as needed.

"I'm fine," Oliver ground out, teeth clenched. His jaw ached at the tension from having to assure everyone around him that he wasn't losing it. In reality he wanted to scream and throw a lot more than his phone around. The feeling of helplessness was consuming him inside, but he knew Digg was right; he needed to stay focused and remain calm, no matter what they found when they landed.

He went back to the laptop, checking his email one more time then shutting it when there was nothing new being reported. Nigel's group was still missing, the rescue crews were still fighting the fires, and the cause of the explosions was still unknown. He leaned back in his chair, recalling the moment when he realized Felicity was in the group of missing employees.

_"Oliver, I'm so sorry," Isabel had said, taking the note pad back from him. "She was an asset to the organization and I know you were close."_

_Oliver started to take a step toward the woman, but Diggle could see where this was going and immediately grabbed his arm, halting his movement._

_"Let's get ready for our flight," Digg had whispered to him, obviously holding back his own emotions based on the hitch in his voice._

_Oliver shook Diggle off of him, staying where he was, but glaring at Isabel. "You will not refer to ANY of those employees as dead, Isabel, do you understand? They are missing, and until we hear otherwise we will not be assuming anything else. Now get HR on the phone because we need to start contacting their families to let them know what we know."_

He had learned half way through the flight that all of the families were notified, including Felicity's father, who was the only one in the US. The other family members were gathering at QC headquarters in London. Oliver had offered to fly Joseph Smoak to London on the next first class flight once the commercial airlines were up and running, but he had informed them he would prefer to wait at home for any word. Oliver couldn't blame him for wanting to be in a familiar place rather than a foreign country.

The co-pilot came out of the cockpit then to announce to them that they would be landing shortly. Oliver and Diggle buckled themselves in, looking out the windows at the rain that had started to fall. They hoped it would help the rescue crew gain control of the fire more quickly so they could start getting into the buildings to figure out what had caused the explosions, and hopefully find the group that had gone missing. He knew every passing hour brought it further from a "rescue" mission and closer to a "recovery" mission, but he was not going to stop hoping until he knew otherwise. He couldn't even think of the other possibility. There was too much still to be said between them.

An hour later they were pulling up to the QC London buildings, their hired car snaking its way through the emergency vehicles and news vans. Oliver had just tried Felicity's number again, still praying he would hear her voice. They were brought down to the loading zone beneath the building to avoid the media frenzy above, and to stay as dry as possible. It was already getting close to midnight local time, but it seemed like the middle of the day given the flurry of activity. The contact that Isabel had been working with, Hannah Pierce, was waiting for them as they entered the building.

"Mr. Queen," she said, shaking his hand as they made their way to the building's cafeteria. Oliver could see that it had been turned into a makeshift control center for the authorities. He noted that almost an entire portion of one side of the large area had the windows boarded up, presumably from the effects of the explosions from earlier in the day. Through the intact windows he could see the billowing smoke coming from the group of buildings in the distance, the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles lighting up the area like fireworks. "I'm sorry we have to meet under such dire circumstances," she continued, bringing Oliver and Diggle over to meet the head of the fire brigade that was on site.

After the introductions were made and Oliver had been provided with the same news he had been given just prior to getting off of the corporate jet, Diggle made his way over to the white board area where the layout of the buildings was shown. Oliver followed him over, eying the hard copy of the floor plans they had been reviewing on the jet.

"Oliver, did you see this on the plans they sent us?" Diggle asked, pointing to the layout of an underground bunker under one of the warehouse buildings.

Oliver reviewed the plans, and then pulled up the ones they had been viewing on the jet on the tablet that Felicity had insisted on him learning to use. Even when she wasn't there with them she was still helping them, he thought.

"These aren't on any of the ones we had," he confirmed for Digg. They quickly got some of the rescue personnel over to show them the discrepancies, with the structural expert, named Robert, explaining.

"The underground bunker was actually there from back during World War II when a factory was built over this site. There was a set of blue prints created before they discovered the bunker, which are the ones you got, and then they were redone to include the bunker, which are these ones here. I apologize, Mr. Queen, at the mistake," Robert finished, his face getting red at the obvious mix up that had occurred.

Oliver was looking at the new blue prints now with increased interest. He noticed the bunker was in the warehouse where the video feeds had stopped. "It's all right," he stated distractedly to Robert, motioning Diggle over to where the bunker details were. "Do you think it's possible that if this bunker was strong enough for the bombs from the Germans that it could have protected people from the explosions in the warehouse?" Oliver asked, pointing at the area highlighted by the rescue crew.

Diggle nodded his head in agreement, hope starting to blossom on his face.

They quickly shared their idea with the others, and it was confirmed that the bunker was in the last warehouse that had an explosion, so the debris from the destroyed building could be residing on top of the bunker, so anyone inside couldn't get out on their own.

Robert quickly radioed to the rescue crew at the warehouse site, explaining where the bunker entrance would be, at the same time getting information that they were ready to enter the warehouse now that the fire and smoke were under control.

"Take me to the warehouse," Oliver stated, pulling the jacket he had just discarded back on, turning to Diggle as he did the same.

"But Mr. Queen, the situation is extremely dangerous still. Until they know what caused the explosions, we don't know if more might occur," Robert explained, clearly frazzled at the CEO's request.

Oliver took a menacing step toward the young man, using his four-inch height advantage to reinforce his point. "Robert, if you want to keep your job, I highly recommend you take us to that warehouse immediately."

Robert nodded his head, yelling in a quivering voice that they needed a transport out to Site C, which was the name they had given the warehouse of the third explosion.

The ride out went quickly, although Oliver's apprehension was rising every second they got closer. As they made their way out of the SUV Diggle gave Oliver's shoulder a squeeze of encouragement. There was a makeshift platform in the back of a similar vehicle where a number of crew members were reviewing the same blue prints that they had just been looking at in the QC headquarters building. The captain must have been warned of Oliver's pending arrival because the man buttoned up his coat and put on a very formal air as they approached.

"Mr. Queen, Captain William Lowe. I understand you wish to be taken into the building with the rescue crew when they are able to access the hatch for the bunker?" he asked seriously, pointing to the entrance location on the paper in front of them.

"Exactly, me and Mr. Diggle," he stated, motioning to John standing behind him.

The captain gave an uneasy glance to the uniformed men next to him, obviously not happy with the request. He quickly went into several reasons why it was a bad idea to allow the CEO of Queen Consolidated into such a volatile situation. Oliver just shook his head, determined to be there when they entered the bunker.

After much arguing the captain realized Oliver was determined, and giving a sigh of resignation, pointed him to the truck that housed the extra protective suits and equipment.

Within minutes the men were being led to the back of the warehouse, safely away from the flames that were still rising at least a story high in the front of the building. Smoke was still pouring out of the top of the damaged structure, the crews now working to subdue the fire from inside the building. Oliver and Diggle followed the young lieutenant that had already been on his way to join the crew that was working to clear the debris from the bunker hatch.

The destruction around Oliver took his breath away, and he had to remind himself to remain calm or he knew they would never let him help with the rescue. He had been in worse situations on the island, but he was always the target, never someone he cared so much about like Felicity.

The unease that he had been suppressing started to make its way back up, causing his step to falter. Diggle was immediately at his back, asking him if he was all right. Oliver assured him he was fine, then continued on, knowing that shortly he would know Felicity's fate, as well as his own.

Losing his father had been horrific, but it had been his father's choice as to taking his own life, and Oliver knew he couldn't have done anything to stop him. Even with Tommy, who was like a brother to him, the pain was still raw, but Tommy had made the choice to go in after Laurel. It should have been him, but even if he had been there on time, it could have been both of them dying in that collapsed building. But with Felicity, this was all on him. If she was…. He couldn't even think about the possibility that she might be gone, because everything about her was good, and pure, and genuine, and selfless. If anything happened to her because of his inability to be honest with himself about his feelings for her, he didn't know what he would do. Even escaping to his former hell on the island wouldn't be enough punishment.

The group came up on the crew that was clearing debris, trying to get to the bunker entrance. Diggle and Oliver immediately stepped forward, frantically working to get the area cleared with the others. The crew had been working all day already, so fatigue was setting in, and the extra pair of hands were appreciated.

They finally got to the metal hatch, clearing everything away so that nothing would potentially fall in once they got it opened. Oliver's heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest. At first he thought the rhythmic pounding in his ears was his heartbeat, but then as the group looked around at each other, they realized the sound was coming from the hatch itself! Everyone quieted, the most senior crew member kneeling down to disengage the lock to unseal the door. As he worked to pull the lever, causing metal to scrape against metal, the pounding below became more frantic, quickening in pace as those below realized that there was someone at the hatch above them. As the hatch door was opened there was an eruption of yells and screams of relief from the stairwell that led down below the warehouse. The crew let out a huge cheer at finding the group that had been missing, as evidenced by their business attire as they started to make their way up out of the hatch.

Oliver and Diggle made their way to the opening, helping the employees make their way toward the warehouse doors. You could see a number of ambulances pulling up to the building while paramedics were rushing in with blankets for those being rescued. The family members must have also been informed of the successful rescue as you could see the employees being reunited with groups of civilians waiting for them just outside.

An older gentleman who was the first to come out and was now helping the others out stepped over to Oliver upon seeing him, extending his hand out. "Mr. Queen, I'm Nigel Thorton. You have no idea how thrilled I am to see you, and all of these other lovely people," he stated, a huge grin on his slightly dirty face as he gestured toward the emergency crews.

Oliver shook the man's hand, watching as more people were slowly coming out of the bunker. "Nigel, I'm so relieved you're safe," he finished, still straining to watch the rescue. "I'd like to make sure the entire group gets out, and of course you should go see your family. They should be waiting just outside." Oliver then stepped around the man to stand next to Diggle, who was helping pull people out at the opening. It was obvious from the anxious look on his face that he still hadn't seen Felicity.

Oliver was just turning from a gray haired woman who had just come out, directing her to the paramedic standing behind them, when he caught a glimpse of the wide grin on Diggle's face. His heart stopped as he watched the blonde head rise up out of the hatch, Diggle grabbing hold of the well-manicured hand offered up to him. Oliver watched as Diggle swung Felicity up into his embrace, hugging her tightly. She was the last one out so the crews were going down to make sure everyone was accounted for, causing Oliver to step back and wait until they had all passed before he could step over to his two friends.

Felicity was already babbling, starting to explain to Diggle about how they had been in the warehouse when they started hearing the other explosions. She had her back to Oliver as he reached them, a huge lump in his throat as the emotions he had been suppressing all day started to bubble to the surface. Her explanation of the events were cut short as he grabbed her by the arm, swinging her around to face him, his hands protectively coming up to caress her face as his eyes scanned her ash smudged cheeks, then down her body to assess for any injuries.

Upon seeing no obvious harm, he crushed her to him, closing his eyes and thanking God over and over in his head for her safe return to him. Finally convinced that she was there, unharmed and alive, he pulled away slightly, bringing his hand up again to her face, gently brushing back the hair behind her ear. He just gazed at her, taking in that bright smile and twinkling eyes.

"You're here," she said quietly, resting her hands lightly on his chest, lingering in his warm embrace. He nodded slightly at her comment, still too overcome with emotion to say anything.

Just then a paramedic came over, the woman wrapping a warm blanket around Felicity's shoulders, getting ready to steer her away from Oliver's embrace to a waiting ambulance to do a full assessment of her condition.

"I've got it," Oliver said shakily, putting his arm around Felicity's shoulders to fully wrap the blanket around her, enclosing her in a warm cocoon. They followed the paramedic, with Oliver staying right beside Felicity the entire time.

Diggle was on the phone, letting Moira and Isabel know that the group had been found, with everyone seemingly fine after the ordeal. He then called Layla, giving her the good news. He felt his eyes tear up a bit at her emotional reaction to the news. He then hung up and made his way over to Oliver and Felicity. He noticed right away the protective stance Oliver had next to her, and expected he wasn't moving from that position for some time.

The paramedics finally finished with Felicity, giving her the all clear to be able to leave. She stood up then, turning to Oliver, the grin seemingly permanent on her face. "Care to give a girl a lift back to her hotel?" she asked lightheartedly.

Oliver took her hand, leading her over to the vehicle that Diggle had waiting for them. He got in the back with her, never letting their contact break. Diggle sat up front with the hired driver, giving him the destination instructions Oliver had quietly passed on to him while Felicity had been getting checked over by the paramedic.

Felicity first called her father, letting him know that all was well and she was safe. After finishing the call, Felicity started to ask where they were going since she noticed they weren't heading in the direction of her hotel. Oliver informed her quietly that they would be staying at an estate of a friend of his. When she started to protest that she needed to get changed out of her clothes since she was full of ash and dirt from the bunker he told her that everything she needed would be there.

As it was after midnight she felt herself drift off leaning on Oliver, the lull of the car ride and the events of the day finally taking their toll on her. Oliver watched her, still not believing that she was there, safe in his arms. He felt the recurring lump in his throat, overwhelmed by the relief and joy at finally reaching her after fearing that he would never see her again.

Watching her sleep, he leaned down to place a kiss on her hair, tightening his grip on her. Tomorrow, or more accurately later that morning they were going to have to have a very frank discussion about their relationship. He wasn't sure exactly what he would say, but he knew he couldn't keep acting like he didn't care for her. No, he thought as he gazed down at her, he might be selfish for wanting this, but he knew he couldn't go on without her anymore. He needed her, and no matter how much he wished that weren't the case, that was just how it was, and he was ready to tell her. He just didn't know how she would react.

**Hope you enjoyed; I debated about having Felicity seriously injured or not, but thought Oliver had suffered enough just not knowing where she was for the entire day. I'm a fan of angst, but not one of true suffering. Next chapter, Oliver and Felicity have a very candid discussion about their relationship. Plus, we'll start to learn more about the explosions that rocked QC headquarters in London.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Thanks again for the great reviews. I apologize if any of my introductions were misleading. I realized after I posted the last chapter that I had alluded to sharing information about what caused the explosions. I didn't get to that part of the story in chapter 5, but will start to uncover the mystery in this chapter.**

**I also apologize for the delay in getting this chapter published. I am hoping to have the next one out by early next week. **

**Wow! I don't know about you guys, but I was blown away by Wednesday night's episode this week. It has given me a ton of ideas for where to take this story, so I hope you enjoy. And remember, patience is a virtue…**

Felicity made her way through the beautiful home in search of Oliver. She must have passed out in the car, and had been placed in a spacious master bedroom that had a dressing room bigger than her bedroom back home in Starling City. All of her belongings from the hotel had been placed in the corner of the room, and she had made quick work of showering and dressing in her most comfortable outfit before venturing into the rest of the house to find her boss.

She still couldn't believe he had been there when she got pulled out of the bunker. The events of the past day seemed so surreal in her mind, yet the evidence that it had really happened showed in the scrapes along her arms as a result of the group's rush to find cover from the explosions in the warehouse they were in the process of touring.

Downstairs in the large home, Oliver and Diggle had been sitting at the kitchen table with an array of food in front of them for the last hour, waiting for Felicity to make her way down to them. Oliver had left a note earlier that morning for her to join them when she woke up, and had just been pacing, again, when Diggle had insisted he try to relax while they waited for her. He had already had a conference call with QC's US headquarters, and followed up personally with each of the employees who had been rescued the night before. Everyone was doing surprisingly well given the circumstances, and had all appreciated receiving the rest of the week off to recover from their ordeal, with the option to take more paid time off as needed. Diggle had also been in contact with the local authorities to see if anything more had been discovered about the explosions, but so far nothing had come up. It was truly amazing that given all of the destruction there hadn't been a single fatality or even serious injury from the multiple explosions. Something about it didn't sit right with Oliver, and he could tell Diggle had the same suspicions.

Both Oliver and Diggle stood up as Felicity now entered the kitchen, their faces breaking out in huge smiles. She responded in kind, and ended up coming around to hug them both, first Diggle, then Oliver. Diggle watched as Oliver wrapped his arms around her, the look of relief washing over him as he held her, eyes closed and nose buried in her hair. Diggle hoped that they would finally get past all this hesitation and that the events of the day before would get them to open up about their feelings for each other. It was so evident to everyone else, yet they still fought it, each for their own reasons, which he could not even guess.

Oliver reluctantly stepped back from Felicity. "How did you sleep?" he asked, steering her toward one of the chairs with an empty plate in front of it.

"Like a rock, actually," Felicity responded, settling into her seat and starting to pick at the selection of fruits and pastries in front of her. She looked around the room, noticing the outdoor patio just off the kitchen that was in an enclosed atrium. "This is a beautiful home," she stated, tossing a strawberry into her mouth, looking at Oliver expectantly for an explanation of how they had ended up there.

"It belongs to a friend of the family," he stated, not feeling the need to go into detail about the Duke of Kensington. He smiled, tempted to elaborate knowing that he would get a candid and flamboyant reaction from her, but having other things on his mind to discuss with her. "If you want, we can take your breakfast out to the atrium," he gestured toward the double French doors, hoping for some privacy.

"It's freezing out there," she stated, frowning at his suggestion.

Again, he smiled at her, realizing how much he had missed her candor and openness in the weeks she had been gone. Right now he was exactly where he wanted to be, and he felt more relaxed and at ease than he had in a long time, despite what they had all gone through the last 24 hours. "Come on, you'll see it's not so bad," he finished, getting up and grabbing her plate and glass of orange juice from in front of her.

Diggle watched as they went, not making any move to get out of his chair.

"Aren't you coming?" Felicity asked, giving him a slight hip-check into the shoulder as she made her way toward Oliver.

"I'm fine right here, next to the food, thank you," he replied lightheartedly. "Besides, I'm waiting for a call from the investigation team any minute." He watched as she shrugged, wondering if Oliver felt the completeness of their trio as much as he did now that the three of them were back together again.

Oliver and Felicity settled into the oversized patio seats sitting around the large square coffee table in the middle of the seating arrangement, the temperature actually slightly warmer in the atrium than what it was in the house. "I didn't realize it was totally enclosed," she stated, turning her attention back to her plate that Oliver had just put in front of her.

Oliver nodded, watching her, realizing he was staring, and then clearing his throat to speak. He had been rehearsing his speech for the last two hours and was glad to finally be able to get his feelings off of his chest.

Before he could say anything, Felicity's cell started ringing. She grabbed it out of her pants pocket and smiled when she saw the name on the display. "One second," she whispered to Oliver as she answered the call.

"Hey Barry," she said into the phone, her voice softening a bit. Oliver frowned, tilting his head at her obvious warm response to the caller. "No, I've been awake for a while, just was sitting down to get some breakfast," she stated, reaching for her juice and continuing her meal. "I did get your message, thank you, and I'm sorry I didn't call last night. I was going to wait until I got back to the hotel to call but I ended up literally passing out on the ride back." There was another short pause, with Felicity chuckling. "No, I'm actually not at the hotel anymore. Oli-I mean Mr. Queen is letting me crash at a friend's house for now," she stated, looking at Oliver for the first time during the conversation. He was staring intently at her, a deep frown on his face. Felicity realized how rude she was being, and quickly cut off whatever was being said on the line. "You know what, Barry, Mr. Queen and I were just getting ready to meet regarding the firewall project, so I better go. Can I call you later?" she asked, giving Oliver an apologetic shrug of her shoulders. "Okay, thanks, Barry, I can't wait to see you, too," she finished, hanging up the phone.

Oliver sat in stunned silence, reeling at the conversation he had just witnessed, or at least the part he had been able to hear. "Who's Barry?" he asked without thinking.

"Oh, that's Barry Allen, a graduate student from Central City College that's here doing an internship with Scotland Yard. What a small world, huh?" she stated, continuing to finish her breakfast.

Oliver felt his stomach do somersaults, terrified to ask anymore, but unable to stop himself. "Is that who you've been touring the castle ruins with lately?" he asked.

Felicity looked at him quizzically, and then recalled mentioning the tours in her latest emails to Oliver. Nodding her head as she took another sip of juice, she confirmed it for him. "Yes," she finally said out loud, "Barry and I met at a museum, realizing we were the only two in the building without an English accent, and ended up going for coffee that afternoon, which turned into dinner, and then we just started hanging out," she finished.

"Oh," was all Oliver could get out, his lungs seeming to forget how to pull air into his body, the planned words he was going to share with her going up in flames in his mind as he came to the disturbing realization that his greatest fear was coming true. Felicity had met someone else. He now questioned if she had ever had any feelings for him, or if he had just imagined all those times when he had caught her staring at him while working out; or perhaps it had just been a fleeting infatuation, and she realized while away from him that he truly was too broken to waste her time on him, so now she had found someone that was better suited for her.

She noticed his hesitation, and abrupt change in mood from when they had first entered the atrium, and couldn't for the life of her figure out what had just happened. "Oliver, are you okay?" she asked, genuine concern etched all over her face.

Oliver shook his head, trying to jolt his defenses back up, putting his "Oliver Queen – billionaire/playboy" face back into place. He smiled at her, though this smile did not come close to reaching his eyes. "I'm fine, just really tired; it's been a long 24 hours," he stated simply.

He pushed his emotions back once again, chatting casually with Felicity about Barry, hearing about some of the adventures they had been on, feeling his heart break apart one small piece at a time with each story she shared. He couldn't tell from her stories how far the relationship had advanced, but could hear the affection she had for this man. The kicker for him was when she mentioned that Barry was a big fan of the Vigilante of Starling City. Oliver couldn't help but laugh hollowly at that, thinking to himself that he would gladly trade places with Barry Allen at the drop of a hat to be the center of Felicity's attention.

Once he felt he had been punished enough, he steered the conversation to the events of the day before, asking Felicity to describe what had happened leading up to the explosions and the group literally barely saving themselves by taking refuge in the bunker.

He listened intently, relieved to no longer be hearing about her new "friend", but not finding anything terribly odd about the events that ultimately led up to the group being rescued. "So how did you find the bunker?" he asked, not understanding how the group could just stumble upon an 80 year old bunker that seemed to be in working condition.

Felicity collected her thoughts for a moment, Oliver watching as she was presumably replaying the events leading up to finding the bunker. Suddenly he caught the change in her expression, noting the look of determination that she always got when she had overcome some complex issue or problem.

"What is it, Felicity?" he said, involuntarily pulling his chair slightly closer to hers.

"Oliver," she said, looking him straight in the eye now," I think someone was trying to intentionally get us to find the bunker and take cover there."

Oliver looked at her, trying to make sense of what she was saying. "What happened that makes you think that?" he finally asked when she didn't offer any further details.

"Wait," Felicity stated, getting up from the chair and pacing the area around the cushioned seats. He knew that look as well, when she was organizing her thoughts before speaking. It used to frustrate him like hell, but he now knew it was better to be patient. Within a minute she was back in front of him, her hands flying around as she gestured while speaking. "Oliver, we were trying to get away from the warehouses altogether after the first explosion went off, and it was like the second one went off right as we were heading that direction. It was as if…"

"…someone was trying to control your movements," Oliver finished, catching on to the direction of her thoughts as he stood up from his chair.

"Yes," she exclaimed, involuntarily grabbing onto his upper arms in her excitement that he understood what she was saying.

Oliver stopped dead in his tracks, his entire upper body tensing at the contact, an electric current making its way throughout the rest of his body at her touch. Agonizingly he reached up and gently pushed her back from him, breaking the physical contact between them. Previously he would have just stood there and enjoyed the intimacy of the moment, but given what she had told him about Barry, he didn't feel he had the right to enjoy any kind of physical contact with her.

"Let's fill in Diggle on this," he stated gently at the glimpse of confusion on her face over his reaction to her touching him. "We should also contact QC Security and the authorities to have them search out for more explosives in the surrounding buildings," he continued, walking back into the kitchen.

Diggle was on the phone, a look of deep concern on his face. "Uh-huh," he was saying, acknowledging whatever was being said to him. "Thank you, Captain, I'll fill in Mr. Queen now and we'll be in touch," he finished, ending the call.

Oliver and Felicity looked at him expectantly.

"It seems they found other explosive devices that never detonated in some of the other buildings," he said, confirming their suspicions.

"Then that is what happened," Oliver stated, looking at Felicity.

Diggle looked at them both with confusion. "What do you mean?" he finally asked when they didn't immediately elaborate.

"Felicity thought it was as if someone was trying to steer them to that building for them to purposely find the bunker and take cover," he informed Diggle.

"I guess your thought was right," Diggle stated, giving Felicity's shoulder a gentle squeeze of support.

Oliver got on the phone with his mother, informing her of the new revelation, both of them unable to come up with any reason someone would try to do something like that. Just then his mother was interrupted by Thea. Oliver could hear her voice, but didn't understand what she was saying.

"Mom, what is it?" Oliver asked, the concern for his sister evident in his tone.

"Oliver, I think you better come home," she stated flatly. "There's been an incident at Queen Consolidated in the Applied Sciences building," she added.

"What kind of incident?" he inquired, his mind reeling from the new events playing out so far from where he was at the moment.

Oliver could hear his sister ask for the phone from his mother, the edge to her voice sharp as a knife.

"Ollie, they're trying to figure out what was taken, but two security officers were killed," she stated shakily, obviously her emotions affected by the news.

Oliver quickly relayed the information to Diggle and Felicity to give Thea a moment to collect herself. Turning back to the phone he heard his mother get on the line again. "Mom, do the police have any leads on who did this?"

"No," his mother stated, clearly overcome by her own emotions. "The only lead they have right now is some random message that was spray painted several times throughout the building. It was the same message over and over. 'When the cat's away the mice will play.' I mean, what kind of monster would kill those men then do that?" she finished, her voice breaking at the enormity of the situation.

Oliver felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. "Mom, do you know what color the message was in?"

"What?" she cried breathlessly, not understanding the reasoning for his question.

"Mom," he exclaimed loudly, more sternly than he intended, "do you have any idea what color the message was spray painted in?" He waited as he heard her relay the question to Thea. He heard Thea's response before his mother was able to say anything. "Mom, Diggle and I are headed back on the corporate jet within the hour. I'll call you for an update when we're in the air," he finished, cutting off the call.

Diggle and Felicity looked at him oddly, confused at his question and reaction to whatever the answer was. Diggle was the first to speak up. "What message are you talking about, and what does the color have to do with it?"

Oliver started making his way up the staircase to the next level where all of the bedrooms were, Diggle and Felicity close on his heels. He shared the message that had been left at QC, prompting Diggle to finally grab his arm to turn him around and face them as he was trying to get to the guest room where he had all of his personal items for the trip.

"Oliver, I still don't understand why you asked what color the message was in," he said.

"It was in green, wasn't it," Felicity finally said. Of course she would put the puzzle pieces together without all of the information. Oliver nodded to confirm her suspicion. "And you think whoever set off the explosions here in London was trying to draw you away from Starling City so they could get their hands on whatever it is they got," she added.

Oliver reached out and squeezed her hand, a genuine smile on his face. "Did I tell you how much I missed you?" he said softly.

Felicity squeezed back, grinning at him. "I missed you, too, Oliver," she responded.

Diggle was already on the phone with the corporate pilot, informing him of their immediate departure. He covered the mouthpiece of his phone. "Felicity, will it be two or three of us going back?"

"Three," she responded quickly. Then, looking at Oliver, she backpedaled a bit. "I mean, if that's okay with you. I'd like to help figure out what's going on there, and they don't need me here anymore for the firewall stuff. That is, unless you don't want me to come back." She held her breath, unsure of what Oliver would say.

He had really missed her, and despite the fact that he felt a huge throb in his chest at being unable to share his feelings with her, he decided in that moment that he was willing to take Felicity however he could have her, even if it was just as friends or partners in crime. "Why do you think I came, Felicity," he replied gently. "It's time for you to come home."

Felicity felt her heart constrict tightly at his comment, emotion welling up. She gave Diggle a quick nod, and then turned around to head to her room to gather her luggage.

She sighed as she retreated from the two men, Diggle finishing his conversation with the pilot being the last thing she heard. Once she got to the room she had slept in, she closed the door, leaning back against it and letting out a deep sigh. Five weeks had apparently done nothing to dampen her feelings toward Oliver. And she absolutely had to stop reading into every little comment he made.

_It's time for you to come home._

She knew he wouldn't have come to London if it wasn't for the events of the day before, and she also figured he would have turned around and left her there to finish out the firewall project had it not been for the break in, but she really wished that he wasn't so damn nice about everything. It was just him, she thought to herself, as he was just inherently good, whether he saw it or not. However, it made it really hard to keep her feelings in check when he was so sweet to her.

And then there was Barry. _Oh no,_ she thought to herself. How was she going to explain to Barry that she was just up and leaving? She felt awful for ditching him, but knew he would be back in Central City soon anyway as he had already extended his student visa the maximum number of times, so would have to leave shortly regardless. But what would he think about her jetting off with Oliver Queen, especially after some of their conversations about him. Not that she had meant to talk about Oliver, she amended in her head. It just was a fact that a big part of her life revolved around him, so when Barry would ask her things about herself, the conversation always seemed to turn to Oliver, and sometimes Diggle as well. It wasn't until the fourth or fifth time they had dinner together that Barry asked her how long she had been in love with Oliver. She had been totally blind-sided by the question, and a bit upset at his insinuation that she was playing games with him. Barry had actually been very sweet about the whole thing, sharing his observations about her interactions with Oliver, and wondering aloud based on how Felicity had described him if he might have feelings for her as well. However, it became apparent as the weeks stretched out and she barely heard from Oliver that he was not missing her nearly as much as she was missing him.

She smiled to herself as she started packing up her things, thinking back to how her heart had skipped a beat at the sight of Oliver at the warehouse when she had made her way up from the bunker, talking intently with Nigel Thorton, obviously concerned about the events that occurred that day. She was no fool. She knew Oliver wasn't just there to make sure she was okay. But it had still warmed her from the inside out that he had stayed with her after being brought up to the surface, obviously because all of the other employees had their families on site to comfort and support them.

But enough about Oliver! She had to concentrate on the events that were happening around them, and figure out who was behind these things. Someone had obviously gone through a lot of trouble to get Oliver out of the country. She was excited to get back to her computers and monitors to help figure out what was going on, the three of them a team again.

She zipped up her last bag, then grabbed everything, exiting the room, leaving London behind and heading to where she was needed; home.

**Well, there you have it. Our favorite couple is still clueless as to the other's true feelings. And for those of you who loved Barry Allen as much as I did, we will be seeing him in Starling City soon. I am contemplating keeping him around a bit longer than the show writers had him with the group. Just keep in mind that this is an Olicity fan fic, so all things I use are meant to help our pair find their way to each other. Until next time…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**I was so anxious to get to this chapter that it is now 2 AM and I am posting this just 24 hours after the last chapter. **

**Our favorite crime fighters are back in Starling City investigating the robbery at Queen Consolidated. And look who has come to visit!? Barry Allen! Felicity is happy to see her friend, but Oliver is less than thrilled. **

**Keep the reviews coming. I LOVE them. You guys are the absolute best, and I so appreciate all of the positive vibes coming my way. It is so motivating to know there is an audience (regardless of how small!) that is eager to read more of my story. Hope you enjoy.**

Felicity sat in the secret lair below Verdant, doing her research on the Queen Consolidated robbery. They had determined that the person who robbed QC and killed the security guards, Cyrus Gold, had been injected with some super soldier serum. Oliver had known about the serum from his time on the island, but wasn't sure how whoever was behind it could have gotten a sample as everyone who had been previously infected was dead. She was in the process of trying to trace the money trail that allowed Cyrus to stay under the radar.

Oliver came in a short time later with Diggle. He came up to stand behind Felicity, waiting a moment before saying anything to her, just enjoying the fact that she was there. "Any luck with the financing?" he asked.

"Nothing yet," she replied, turning to look at him. "You look tired, Oliver," she stated, giving him her full attention, forgetting the research.

Oliver smiled, touched by her concern, wondering what she would think if he told her that it wasn't the mystery of the serum that was keeping him up at night, but instead a certain brainy blonde. "Still suffering from jet lag I guess," he replied.

She looked at Oliver a moment longer, contemplating whether to push him for more information, but told herself she was prying again. It was a bad habit she had developed when it came to Oliver Queen, and she knew it had to stop or she was going to drive herself crazy with worry over him.

Turning back to her monitors she filled him on where she had run into the dead ends with the Cayman Island bank accounts, and putting into layman's terms how she was trying to crack into the information. Oliver nodded, seemingly satisfied with her progress and plan of attack. He didn't understand half of what she said when it came to her cyber skills, but he trusted that she was doing all she could and a better job than anyone else could.

"So, have you had any dinner yet?" Oliver asked nonchalantly.

Diggle stepped up behind Oliver. "I already ate, but you two go ahead." He gave Oliver a wink at the frown he received from his boss. He grabbed his coat and made his way out of the underground lair, yelling out his good-byes to the two of them before shutting the door loudly.

"Well," Oliver stated, "I guess that just leaves me and you." He looked at Felicity expectantly, his heart dropping a bit at the pained look on her face.

"I kind of already have plans," she said, grimacing at him. "Barry just got back from London and was catching the train into Starling City this afternoon for us to go to dinner and catch up." She waited for Oliver to say something, but at the extended silence finally threw out the only thought that came to her mind. "You could join us if you'd like." Why did her mouth fail to filter the thoughts from her brain!?

He stared at her, trying not to show any emotion at the thought of her spending the evening with Barry Allen, and tempted entirely too much at the prospect of observing the two of them together to determine how involved they had become while in England. Before he thought twice, he accepted her offer, even telling her he would take the two of them to one of the most prestigious restaurants in town to celebrate Barry's return.

Felicity numbly accepted his offer, then wondered what the hell she had just set herself up for as Oliver walked away, throwing out a time when he would send a car for her and Barry to pick them up from her apartment.

_This should be interesting_, Oliver thought to himself.

_Later that evening…_

Oliver knocked on the door of Felicity's apartment, anxious to get the night over with so he could go back to suffering in silence, perhaps heading back to Verdant to get a midnight workout in until his body would collapse from sheer exhaustion. He was about to knock again when Felicity opened the door, working to get an earring into her ear lobe as she stood before him.

"Sorry, I'm not quite ready yet," she said breathlessly, motioning for Oliver to enter.

Oliver just stood there for a moment, taking in the sight of her. She was wearing a revealing red cocktail dress that looked like it was made of the sheerest material in existence. The neckline plunged to show a healthy amount of cleavage while the wide straps sat slightly off her shoulders, but not quite down onto her upper arms. The bodice tapered down to accent her small waist, with the dress then falling gracefully down to her knees. She wore matching red high-heeled pumps that added a good four inches to her already petite 5'4" frame. Even with the heels she was still just to Oliver's nose.

What struck him the most was her hair, which was piled on top of her head in a messy but extremely attractive up do, with small wisps of her blond hair falling down from the loose pile. He had never seen her wear it up except in her standard pony tail. The look was striking on her, and all of it ended up making his mind go blank as he stood there.

"What?" was all he could get out coherently. Just then he saw a man stick his head out of the living room doorway.

"Oh, hi," the stranger said casually, making his way to the two of them. "You must be Mr. Queen. I'm Barry Allen," he said, putting his hand out to shake Oliver's. Oliver took the young man's hand in his grasp and gave it a good squeeze. He saw Barry cringe a bit at the pressure and it put a genuine smile on his face.

"Wow," Barry said, "you must work out." He took his hand back from Oliver, shaking out the pins and needles to get the feeling flowing again.

Felicity looked between the two of them with a slight frown. "Okay, then, why don't you two wait in the living room. I just have to put on the final touches, and then we'll be ready to go." She left the two men standing there, neither making eye contact with the other initially. Finally, Barry got up the courage to speak.

"So Felicity has told me a lot about you," he started. He noted the frown on Oliver's face, and wondered if that small statement had provided too much information. "I mean, she sounds like she really enjoys working for you and Queen Consolidated. I understand she used to work for your step-father."

"Ex-step-father," Oliver corrected him, still upset with his mother for how she had ended up pushing away such a wonderful man like Walter Steel. Oliver's stance relaxed a bit as he realized Felicity had been talking to Barry about QC. Of course she wouldn't talk about him being the vigilante. He knew she was probably the most trustworthy person he had ever met.

They stood there a few more minutes in uncomfortable silence, both relieved when they heard Felicity's footsteps approaching from her bedroom.

"Can one of you help me with this necklace, please?" she asked, holding the piece of jewelry up equal distance from the two men. Barry started to say something, but Oliver quickly stepped forward, taking the necklace from her.

He put it on her, resting his hands gently on her shoulders as he whispered, "you look beautiful tonight," before stepping back. The comment sent a chill down Felicity's spine, with the exchange not lost on Barry.

After spending just a short time with Barry, Oliver wasn't sure what the attraction was between the two of them. Barry was probably the same age as Felicity and from what she had shared with him, almost as smart as her as well. However, beyond that he didn't' get it. Barry was a bit awkward, and although he was probably cute in a boyish kind of way, Oliver would guess he wasn't considered a hottie by the ladies. Regardless, he was going to order a background check on this guy if he intended spending any time with Felicity.

Smiling to Felicity and Barry, Oliver escorted them out to the waiting vehicle, ready to head to dinner and start assessing the couple.

_At the restaurant later…_

The three were enjoying dinner, and as much as Oliver wished otherwise, Barry seemed to be a really decent guy. He was extremely polite, and made sure Felicity had everything she wanted and needed as the meal progressed. Felicity seemed surprised at the attention from Barry, but maybe she was just a bit embarrassed to be receiving it in front of Oliver. By the end of the meal Oliver realized that they actually made a cute couple, and felt his heart breaking again at the thought that she would be able to find true happiness with someone else.

As he was thinking about all of these things, Felicity noticed how quiet and withdrawn he had gotten. Just then Oliver got a call on his cell. Looking at the name on the display, he excused himself. Felicity watched as he got up and walked away, concern written all over her face. Once he was out of ear shot she turned abruptly to Barry.

"What the hell are you doing, Barry?"

Barry opened his mouth, then closed it, and then opened it again, aware that she might be mad enough at him to ask him to go back to Central City and never return. However, he honestly felt that he had her best interest at heart, so decided to come clean.

"I'm making Oliver jealous," he stated simply, laying it all on the line for her.

"Are you insane?" Felicity barked at him loudly, noticing some stares turn her way from the other patrons. She leaned in closer to him, making sure he was listening. "Barry, there is a side to Oliver that you really don't want to tick off, so I'd stop it if I were you."

Seeing Oliver coming back to the table behind her, Barry decided to up the ante. "You are so adorable when you're mad," he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze in full sight of Oliver.

Felicity snatched her hand away, clearly mad at Barry. Oliver frowned down at Barry, but directed his question to Felicity. "Is everything all right here?" he asked.

She continued to glare at Barry. "Everything is fine, Oliver. We just have a bit of a misunderstanding, but nothing to be concerned about," she finished, turning her face up to his and giving him a smile, hoping it would not prompt any more questions.

She must have gotten through to Barry, because he behaved better the rest of the night, acting more like himself. Felicity found herself falling back into that comfortable companionship they had established while in London. With her guard down now, she failed to see the looks she was getting from Oliver every time she laughed at something Barry said, or when she would go on and on about some excursion she and Barry had taken while in England.

Oliver sat silently, giving a tight smile or nod when Barry would address him or ask him a question. Even Felicity didn't seem to notice how quiet he had gotten. He had been watching how more at ease she became as the meal progressed, and felt his hatred for the young man with them growing exponentially. He wondered if he could possibly find a good reason to put an arrow in Barry without raising Felicity's ire. He couldn't come up with anything, so just sat there for the rest of the meal, regretting accepting Felicity's invitation. He was obviously a third wheel in their group, and was ready to be done for the night.

He alerted them that as it was getting late, he was going to take care of the bill, then meet them outside of the restaurant at the car.

After he left, Barry leaned into Felicity. "Is he always this moody?" he asked, surprised that when he wasn't trying to make Oliver jealous, it seemed to worsen his mood.

She watched after Oliver, wondering herself what was putting him in such a negative place. "He wasn't always like this," she answered, clearly trying to make sense of the situation. "He's been up and down like this ever since the whole Count Vertigo thing," she stated absently.

Barry looked at her oddly. "Why would Oliver Queen be affected by what happened with Count Vertigo? I mean, I know the vigilante was involved, and it happened at Queen Consolidated, but it's not like he was there experiencing the situation with you. Really, he should be more concerned about how you've recovered from the whole ordeal."

Realizing her slip up, Felicity quickly tried to back pedal her words, but realized her continued babbling would only make it worse. She just decided to stop talking, or at least keep it to a minimum until she could get back to her apartment and away from her two escorts.

Barry also became increasingly quiet, feeling as though Felicity was keeping something from him, but not able to put his finger on it.

Oliver ended up dropping Barry at his hotel first, as it was on their way from the restaurant to Felicity's apartment. Oliver had turned away while Felicity gave Barry a heartfelt hug, wanting to give the two some privacy before they departed the hotel. The ride to her apartment was strained, with neither sure what to say to the other. Once they got to her apartment, Oliver insisted he walk her all the way to her door.

They made their way slowly up the stairwell, then Oliver took her keys, unlocking the door for her. He was just ready to say goodnight and walk away when she abruptly turned toward him. "Do you want to come in for a minute?" she asked.

Caught off guard by her request, he accepted, his large frame seeming to fill her hallway as she shut the door closed behind them. She led him into the living room again.

They hadn't even sat down when she whirled around to say something to him, catching Oliver off guard since he practically slammed into her. He caught her by the upper arms, keeping her upright.

The close proximity charged the surrounding air between them, leaving Felicity speechless and unable to recall exactly what she was going to say. Oliver was also frozen in place, suddenly deeply interested in her mouth.

He involuntarily licked his lips, unable to help himself from asking the question that had been at the tip of his tongue all night. "Are you in love with Barry?"

Still mesmerized by how close they were, Felicity answered before thinking. "No."

The relief that washed through Oliver at that moment was tangible, and the emotions that went through him brought down the mask he had been wearing all night.

The look of vulnerability that Felicity saw in his face at that moment brought more questions than answers to her mind, as evidenced by the frown she wore. She couldn't fathom why it mattered so much to him. Instinctively she reached up to cup his cheek, wanting to provide whatever comfort she could to him, while giving him a questioning look.

He reached up to place his hand on hers, seeing the concern on her face, and chastising himself for letting his selfishness in wanting her all to himself make her worry. "I…" he started, unable again to find the right words.

"Oliver, you can tell me anything, just please, tell me what's wrong!" she said, her concern growing at his inability to put his thoughts into words. She was starting to panic, afraid of what he was going to say to her, afraid he wanted her back in London and as far away from him as possible.

What happened next was the last thing she expected, and caught her completely by surprise.

Oliver stepped even closer, taking her face into both of his hands.

Then, he kissed her….


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**First, I apologize for the huge delay in getting this chapter posted. It has been a crazy last couple of weeks with my three kids and wrapping things up at work to be able to take the rest of the year off for vacation. The good news is I hope to be able to get quite a bit more written for this story in the next week.**

**Also, I want to extend my deepest heartfelt gratitude at the overwhelming positive response I have received for this story. Your enthusiasm as fans of the show AND Olicity are truly inspiring to me. These next chapters adopt some items from "Three Ghosts" but putting my own spin on the Sebastian Blood/Slade storyline. I hope you enjoy.**

_Then, he kissed her…_

Felicity's mind was reeling; she had dreamed about this exact same thing a hundred times, but her imagination paled in comparison to the real thing.

However, this was Oliver Queen, billionaire, playboy, CEO, vigilante. She was Felicity Smoak, administrative assistant, IT hacker, nerd. The inconsistencies hit her like a ton of bricks, pulling her away from Oliver.

He opened his eyes, caught off guard by her movement. One second ago he had felt her melting into him, and then suddenly the heat of her body was gone. Oliver looked at her, his confusion evident.

"Felicity?" he questioned, still trying to figure out what had just happened.

She wrapped her arms around her middle, eyes downcast. _This should not be happening_, she thought to herself. There was no logical reason in this universe that Oliver Queen would pick the IT girl over everyone else. But it was logical that perhaps he wanted to keep her from someone else.

She met his gaze then, and the mistrust he saw in them made him physically take a half a step back. She finally spoke.

"Are you only kissing me because you don't WANT me to fall in love with Barry Allen?" she accused.

Oliver frowned. "What?! No, of course not. I mean yes, I would rather you weren't in love with him, but that's not the only reason I kissed you," he said, trying to figure out what he had done to put this line of thought in her head.

"Then why?" she asked flatly, not budging from her spot.

Oliver looked at her, realizing that he must choose his words very carefully so as not to raise her ire any further. "I've wanted to do that for a long time," he responded, maintaining eye contact with her to emphasize his sincerity.

That clearly surprised her given her wide-eyed look. "Since when?"

"I think I realized shortly after you and Diggle came and got me off of the island to bring me back here," he finally admitted, going back in his head when his heart had nearly stopped at the sight of her standing on the landmine when they had first arrived. He had thought about her a lot during his time away, more than even he wanted to admit to himself.

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly at his comment. "Before Russia?"

His stomach did a flip flop as he thought back to her discovering Isabel in his room, and their conversation upon returning to Starling City in the office the day Isabel had demanded he fire Felicity.

"I can't apologize enough for what happened with Isabel..." he started, but she held up her hand to cut him off.

"Stop," she commanded, closing her eyes to hide her true emotions. "I really don't want to talk about that ever again, Oliver." She opened her eyes again, and the faint hint of moisture at the corners was not lost on him. "So why did you send me to London?"

_This was why_, he thought, berating himself for yet again hurting her. It seemed it was impossible for him to avoid it, no matter what he did or said. At this point he figured the full story was his only option.

"When I was gone, I tried to block out everything about Starling City to avoid the guilt and pain it brought out in me. It seemed whatever direction my thoughts went, they always led me back to regretting not saving Tommy, regretting sleeping with Laurel again, regretting not stopping Merlyn and his destruction of the Glades in time; regretting my mother's involvement in the Undertaking; I was consumed by regret and pain. Yet time and again, when I thought I couldn't bear the pain for one more second, I would find that my mind would wander to you; memories of you didn't bring that regret or pain; slowly my memories from the basement of Verdant, of you and Diggle, brought me hope that I could go back home and face my friends and family without being buried under that mountain of pain that was literally crushing me." He finished, setting himself down on the sofa, feeling slightly out of breath from the admission and wave of emotion it brought.

Felicity sat down next to him, taking his hands into her smaller ones. He raised his eyes to her, once again caught off guard by the infinite amount of kindness she gave him.

"Oliver, I don't know what happened to you on that island, and I don't need you to tell me. But you need to realize that you aren't alone anymore," she said, reaching out to caress his cheek. He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes and letting the warmth of her hand sink into the rest of him.

He knew she was right. He knew that he kept a wall up around his heart, fearful that everything that had been given back to him since his return home would be taken away, and he would be left alone again. "I'm trying, Felicity," he finally said, opening his eyes and letting her see everything that he held back.

She was struck by the pain and vulnerability she saw, and chastised herself for letting her own insecurities get the best of her. She leaned forward, taking him into her arms and holding him there, letting him know through her actions that she was there for him.

He finally pulled back, pushing the soft tendrils of her hair from her face, placing a soft kiss on her lips before pulling back to look her in the eyes again.

"Thank you," he said, giving her a gentle smile.

"For what?"

"For making me feel like I'm finally not alone," he answered, kissing her on the forehead and taking her into his embrace again.

His phone rang then, causing them both to pull apart. He saw it was Diggle, and answered it immediately.

"Oliver," John said, the strain evident in his tone, "it's Roy."

Felicity saw the alarm on Oliver's face, and then asked him to put it on speaker, which Oliver quickly did.

"You're on speaker, Digg. Felicity's here with me."

"Roy's in the hospital. I was doing some reconnaissance in the Glades where some of the mysterious deaths have been occurring and literally came upon him getting the living crap beat out of him by one of those super soldiers," he said.

Oliver's anger snapped. "Why the hell were you doing recon without me as backup?"

John sighed. "Oliver, you've been a little off lately, and I was cautious. I ended up scaring the guy off, but not before he injected Roy with something," he finished.

Oliver's eyes widened in shock. "He was injected with the serum?"

"I'm guessing the answer is yes given the fact that his eyes were bleeding and he was convulsing by the time I got to him. His heart stopped, but I gave him CPR and brought him back. I got him cleaned up for the most part before the ambulance arrived, but he hasn't regained consciousness yet."

"Let me get to Verdant and start seeing if I can find out where the man that attacked him went after he left Roy there," Felicity stated, already thinking through what needed to be done. Oliver nodded his head in agreement, a knot forming in his gut at the thought of the serum existing.

"There's something else you should know, Oliver," Diggle stated.

Oliver put his head in his hand, not sure how this could get any worse. "What is it?"

"Thea's here at the hospital with Roy."

Oliver's head whipped up, a look of shock on his face at the mention of his sister.

Felicity put a reassuring hand on his knee. "Was she there when Roy was attacked?" she asked, concern for Oliver's sister sending a chill down her spine.

"She's fine, but the hospital called her since she's listed as Roy's next of kin. She's in the room with him, and I can't convince her to go home. She wants to stay until he wakes up," Diggle finished.

"I'm on my way," Oliver stated. "Don't let either of them out of your sight," he ordered his friend, ending the call. He stood up, running his hand over his head in exasperation.

"This serum shouldn't exist," he said out loud. Felicity got up to stand in front of him, her questioning look prompting him to finish his thought. "I destroyed the serum and everyone that was infected; it shouldn't exist!"

"Okay, we'll figure this out," she tried to reassure him. "But first, you need to get to the hospital to check on Roy and your sister, and I'll see if I can pull up where that maniac went, and get the information on Roy's blood samples. I'm sure they took his blood when he was admitted."

"It has to be destroyed, Felicity," Oliver said, panic creeping into his face. "It's a weapon."

"I know," she stated. "I'm going to change then get over to Verdant. I'll call you when I have something." She stood up on her tiptoes, giving him one more kiss before he gave her a nod and left, his body rigid with tenseness she had not seen since the arrival of Sara and the League of Assassins.

She made her way to her bedroom to get changed so she could get to work.


	9. Chapter 9

**Because of how patient everyone was waiting for the last chapter, decided to kick out two today. Enjoy!**

Oliver walked into the hospital room, but immediately was brought up short by the scene in front of him.

Roy was sitting up, looking slightly bruised, but in good spirits, laughing at something Thea had just said to him. Diggle was standing off to the side, smiling, but his body contradicted the easy look on his face. He seemed ready to jump in between the two young people in a split second if needed.

At the sound of someone entering, Thea turned to see her brother, launching herself into his arms, a look of relief on her face. "I told Diggle you didn't have to come, but he insisted you would want to see for yourself that Roy was up and fine now," she said, giving him a huge smile.

Oliver stepped over to the young man, perusing him from head to foot. "How are you feeling, Roy?"

"I actually feel fine, if you can believe it," he stated, taking Thea's hand as she came to sit next to him again.

Oliver smiled, trying to look as casual as possible. He turned to his sister. "Hey, Thea, can you get me a bottle of water from the vending machine?" he asked, reaching into his wallet to pull out some money. "And get whatever you want, too," he said, handing her the dollar bills.

She eyed her brother suspiciously. "Why are you trying to get rid of me?"

Oliver laughed, trying to give her his most reassuring look possible. "I'm honestly just thirsty. If you want me to go get it I will," he added, holding his hand out to take the money back from her.

"Fine, I'll go get it. But you guys behave while I'm gone," she added, heading to the door.

He smiled at her as she left the room. As soon as she was gone, he strode over to Roy, turning the young man's head to look at the injection site on his neck where the needle had plunged into him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Roy objected, pushing Oliver's hand away from him.

Diggle stood to the other side of him, watching to make sure Thea was not coming back immediately.

"Do you remember being injected before your attacker took off?" Oliver asked, looking at Roy sternly.

Roy looked between Oliver and Diggle, panic creeping into his face. "What did they put in me?" he asked quietly.

Oliver looked at Diggle, who gave him a nod as if to say he agreed with letting Roy know what was going on. He had already been a help to the Hood, so now maybe he could help them as Oliver figured out where the serum was coming from. "We think you've been injected with an experimental serum that could have some serious side effects," Oliver said.

"What kind of side effects?"

"We're not a hundred percent sure," Diggle stated, "but we have a mutual friend who may know."

Roy looked confused at first, but then it dawned on him. "You guys know the vigilante?"

"Let's just say he's helped me in the past, and he's offered to help me in the future," Oliver stated.

"So did he contact you, too, after he saved you?" Roy asked, thinking back to the time when Diggle had impersonated the Hood to throw suspicion off of Oliver and his fake kidnapping.

Not sure how far to take the lie, Oliver decided to just run with it. "Yeah, he did, and he knows the last people who had this serum. Apparently it didn't end well for them."

"Because of the side effects?" Roy asked, his face showing panic again.

"No, they were trying to weaponize it, like they're trying to do now, so he had to kill them," Oliver stated flatly.

Roy's jaw dropped, the blood draining from his face. He started shaking his head, fear AND panic all over his face now.

Oliver put a reassuring hand on him. "We need you to help us figure out how to counteract the serum, before it can be mass produced. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, I promise."

Roy nodded as Thea made her way back into the room.

At the look on Roy's face she immediately made her way across the room to stand between Oliver and her boyfriend. "What is going on?" she asked accusingly at her brother.

Roy recovered quickly, impressing Oliver. "It's okay, Thea, I just didn't feel well for a second and Oliver was coming over to hit the button for the nurse, but I'm feeling better already," he added, smiling at her.

She looked suspiciously at Oliver, who had a total look of innocence on his face. "I was just trying to help," he stated, lifting his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender.

"I'm sorry," she said, giving Oliver another quick hug. "I'm just a little on edge right now. It just seems like the city is going crazy lately," she added, sitting back down next to Roy.

Roy gave her a shaky smile, then a slight nod at Oliver in acknowledgement of their agreement. Oliver then said his good-byes, walking out with Diggle. He instructed his friend to stay close to the hospital to keep an eye on things to make sure whoever had infected Roy wasn't sniffing around in case they figured out he had survived the attack.

_The next day…_

Oliver sat in his office at Queen Consolidated, staring at Felicity as she sat at her desk, typing on her computer. The memory of the night before brought a smile to his face, remembering their kiss at her apartment and the way she had opened herself up to him, despite the many reasons he gave her for walking away from him and his messed up head. She caught him looking at her, a slow smile coming to her face, and an attractive blush making its way from her neck all the way to the top of her head. How was he ever going to get used to that?

He had stopped in at Verdant after leaving the hospital to see if she had come up with any new information on Roy's attacker, or what the hospital had found out from the blood work they had done. Luckily Diggle was able to get into the lab to replace Roy's blood samples with another sample of the same blood type with no oddities to make it look like his blood was completely normal, with Felicity changing the results that had been recorded by the machine the blood had been run through as well. As Roy was slated to be released the next day Felicity was keeping an eye on the hospital records, and Roy was to report if any more blood was being drawn before his release. So far all of their bases had been covered without incident.

He and Felicity had been working the traffic cameras for a few more hours in the hopes of finding where their mystery attacker had disappeared to, but with no luck. By about two that morning they decided to hang it up for the night and try again the following evening with fresh eyes and Diggle's help. Felicity, in typical fashion, had informed Oliver that she wasn't ignoring what had happened earlier in the evening, but was still processing it, so wanted them to both try to get some rest and revisit what was going on between them with a fresh set of eyes as well the following day. They decided to meet at Verdant that evening to talk over some take-out food while they did more research, then parted ways after a brief kiss that left Oliver wanting more.

Just as Oliver was thinking of that last kiss, it was at that exact moment that Isabel decided to come storming into his office. The look Oliver had been sending in Felicity's direction was not lost on Isabel, and she gave a disapproving frown in his direction as she approached.

"I thought you said there wasn't anything between the two of you," she stated matter-of-factly, giving a glance in Felicity's direction. Felicity had already turned her back on them, not wanting to get caught in Isabel's crossfire.

"What do you need, Isabel?" Oliver asked belligerently, not in the mood to put up with her antics.

She threw an envelope in front of him. "I understand you haven't responded to the invitation that came to us as acting co-CEO's of Queen Consolidated. It's from SW International, a potential investment group for our operations in Australia. I don't think we're in a position to be ignoring any potential investors given our recent track record," she finished, leaning over his desk to stare him down.

Oliver picked up the invitation, noting the date for the end of the week. "Isabel, I'm not interested in accompanying you to any corporate events. If you want to go, be my guest," he finished, throwing the invitation back across the desk toward her.

She straightened, crossing her arms. "Is that what you think, I'm looking for a date to this? Please, I've got better things to do than spend my time reminiscing about a one-night stand, Oliver. It wasn't even one night; it was more like ten minutes," she stated sharply, letting out a small chuckle. Oliver glared at her, regret over his misstep in Russia eating away at him. "Oh stop looking so self-righteous. It meant nothing to you and less to me," she threw at him.

"Fine," Oliver stated through clenched teeth. "Put me down for two," he added, looking over briefly at Felicity, who still had her back turned to them.

Isabel rolled her eyes, then grabbed up the invitation and marched out of his office without another word.

Felicity came in after seeing the other woman leave. "What was that all about?" she asked, placing some papers on Oliver's desk.

Oliver smiled at her, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head, looking very pleased with himself. "We are going to a charity event next Saturday evening being hosted by SW International, a potential investor," he stated.

Felicity looked at him with shock, and then all emotion fell away from her face. "I hope you two have a wonderful time," she stated, turning to leave.

Realizing her misinterpretation, Oliver quickly jumped from his chair and grabbed Felicity's arm before she could escape his office. "No," he corrected, "when I said 'we' I meant you and I."

Felicity's eyes popped open wide, her mouth forming a visible 'O' at his statement. Shaking her head to clear it, she finally found her voice again. "You mean you're taking me as your administrative assistant, right?"

He smiled at her, taking a step closer, brushing the back of his hand along her cheek. "No, I mean I'm taking you as my date, Felicity." The frown that she gave him had him bringing up both hands to cup her face. After taking a moment to look her in the eyes to make sure he had her undivided attention, he leaned down to give her a soft, slow kiss. He smiled slightly during the kiss, enjoying the way she melted into him when their lips were joined.

Felicity let out a soft sigh as he pulled away, trying to remember what she was about to argue with Oliver about, but coming up empty-handed, or empty-brained in her case. Then it came back to her. "I thought we were waiting to discuss our situation in more detail while working tonight?" she said, scowling slightly at him.

Oliver couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. "I guess I'm too impatient."

She grinned up at him, knowing there was no way she was going to talk him out of going to the event with her, and realizing that she didn't want to talk him out of it. "Fine," she conceded, "just let me know where I need to be and when."

His grin widened, if that was even possible. He wasn't sure where this was going with Felicity, but he was certainly enjoying the thought of having more time with her. Typically at this point he would be running the other direction, not interested in an emotional entanglement with a woman, regardless of how beautiful or interesting she was. However, with Felicity he was already past the point of no return, and the thought of getting to know her better and evolve their current relationship was something brand new to him that he was truly looking forward to.

She gave him one last kiss, and then turned to go back to her desk.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Hello all! Thank you so much for all of the supportive reviews. I am getting so excited with where this story is leading, and can't wait to bring you more Olicity and Arrow drama! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it. Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve!**

**In this chapter Oliver and Felicity attend the SW International charity event on behalf of Queen Consolidated. Little does Oliver know he will get the shock of his life at the event…**

Oliver sat in the front sitting room at the Queen mansion, feet propped up on the coffee table in front of him, eyes fixed on the playoff game on the television. Both he and Roy let out a groan as they watched the receiver from the Starling City Sabers drop the pass that had landed right in his hands.

"I can't believe he missed that," Roy exclaimed, gesturing toward the screen.

"You're sure they actually won a Super Bowl a few years ago, because they look like they'll barely make it to the next round of the playoffs right now," Oliver interjected, distracted by the game going on.

He had been extremely nervous twenty minutes ago when coming down from his room after getting into his tuxedo for the charity event being hosted by SW International at the Hilton Plaza that evening. He knew Felicity was just upstairs, being poked and prodded by his little sister in preparation for the evening. Thea wasn't going to the event, but had insisted on taking Felicity out to get a massage and mani-pedi that day before their big night.

His sister hadn't made a single sarcastic comment to Oliver about his asking Felicity to join him as his date to the corporate event, and all indications were pointing to her approval of the newfound relationship. It had started with Thea marching into his office earlier in the week to take Felicity, not him, to lunch, and progressed to the two of them having their "spa day" that afternoon. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it since he and Felicity were still trying to take things slowly, trying to keep their physical feelings in check, despite how heated their kisses could get. He was approaching this relationship differently than ever before, knowing that this was different than anything else in his past.

Another change had been Roy staying with them at the mansion while he fully recovered. Oliver was learning just how deeply Roy's feelings went for his sister, and despite the fact that he was pretty sure things were moving quickly on a physical basis for them, he was still happy that the emotional side was right in line with their physical relationship. He wouldn't tolerate someone taking advantage of his baby sister.

The fact that Roy was right there made it easy to keep tabs on his physical well-being and doing blood work on him to figure out where the serum had come from. Felicity had talked Oliver into letting Barry Allen help analyze the blood samples as he had the training from his undergraduate work at Central City University. It still left Oliver a little green with jealousy that Felicity had spent a day with Barry in his lab at Central City doing the analysis, but he knew if there was anyone he could trust with his heart, it was her.

Oliver's attention was brought back to the game as the seconds ticked down at the end of the fourth quarter, the Sabers punching throw a field goal as time ran out to get the win and advance to next weekend's playoff game. He and Roy jumped up, high-fiving each other, only to be brought up short at the shout behind them signaling that Felicity had come down and was happy about the win as well.

Oliver turned and felt the breath catch in his chest at the sight of her as she stood there. He couldn't help but stare.

Her hair was pulled back into what looked like a delicate French knot, the black knee-length fitted cocktail dress emphasizing her small waist. The pearls around her neck and in her ear lobes kept the look simple, but extremely elegant, and although he always thought Felicity looked beautiful, she was absolutely stunning.

The look Oliver was giving her was starting to make Felicity feel like maybe there was something she had spilled on the front of her dress as he wasn't saying anything, just had this "deer in the headlights" look. Feeling extremely self-conscious already, she asked, "is there something wrong with the dress?"

Oliver finally found his voice, stepping around the sofa to stand immediately before her, taking her small hands into his own. He shook his head slightly. "No, there is nothing wrong with your dress. You look absolutely beautiful," he answered breathlessly.

She gave a huge sigh of relief, casting her eyes down at the unexpected compliment, her heart speeding up at his touch.

"She does look pretty amazing," Thea interjected as she came up behind them, giving Felicity a reassuring pat on the shoulder before making her way over to Roy.

Oliver looked at Roy and Thea, unable to wipe the silly grin off of his face, feeling like he was getting ready to take Felicity to the prom. "I guess we better be going," he finally said, giving Felicity a soft kiss on her cheek, mesmerized by her lips but knowing if he messed up Thea's handiwork he'd never hear the end of it.

"You kids have fun," Thea said after them. "And don't stay out too late," she called, feeling very satisfied with the look that Oliver had on his face at seeing Felicity.

The transformation of her brother within the last week since things had changed in his relationship with Felicity had not been lost on her. He was like the old, carefree Oliver, but without the arrogance and selfishness that came with being young and privileged. She had been afraid she would never see that lightheartedness in him again since his return from the island, knowing he had experienced some horrific things in his five years away, but afraid to ask what had actually happened. It warmed her heart to see the side that Felicity seemed to bring out in him.

Diggle was waiting outside with the car. At seeing their approach, he quickly got out of the driver's seat to make his way around to the other side to let them in. He came to an abrupt halt as he caught sight of Felicity, hardly recognizing her. The fact that Oliver couldn't take his eyes off of her as they approached didn't surprise him. At his open-mouthed stare Felicity found herself wondering again if there was something horribly wrong with her attire.

"Felicity, you look radiant," Diggle finally said, regaining his composure at the frown that Oliver had finally given him for gawking at their partner in crime. Felicity definitely did not fit the "IT girl" image at the moment, and Diggle was pleased to see that Oliver was appreciating it. They had seen her clean up a few other times while working undercover before, but given their recent change in status, he guessed Oliver was seeing her through a different lens these days. He smiled to himself, happy that they had finally fessed up to their suppressed feelings for each other. He hadn't been surprised when he had noticed the change earlier that week, but he had made sure to have a little chat with Oliver about treading carefully with her. He had been pleasantly surprised to hear they were taking things slowly and that Oliver seemed to be thinking long-term.

As they made their way to the Hilton Oliver couldn't keep his eyes off of Felicity, the grin on his face a clear indication of how pleased he was being there with her. She felt her heart swell for what felt like the thousandth time in the last week, letting it sink in that she was there with Oliver and they would be greeting the rest of the world as a true couple. The thought brought panic and happiness to her, the same mix of emotion that Oliver typically brought out in her.

"Are you nervous?" he finally asked, noting her distracted look.

"Yes, I mean no, I mean I'm not sure, I just hope we don't get a bunch of dirty looks while we're there," she finished, her mind going through all of the possible scenarios that their entrance would bring. "I mean, I'm sure a number of people will be wondering why on earth you're there with me of all people."

Oliver chuckled, struck once again at her lack of knowledge at how beautiful she was. "I think people are going to be wondering how the hell I got so lucky to land you as my date; that is if they even are able to take their eyes off of you long enough to acknowledge who your date is."

She blushed in true Felicity fashion, clasping Oliver's strong hand as it rested in her lap, wrapped in her own. She couldn't imagine anyone spending any time looking at her given how handsome Oliver was in his tuxedo. She thought he looked amazing with no shirt on, but the tuxedo and white shirt underneath brought out a glow in him that left her speechless. How could a man be so beautiful, she thought to herself.

"What did you say?" Oliver asked, taken back by the words she mumbled.

Mortified that she had actually said her thoughts out loud, Felicity stumbled over her words, not sure how to respond. Thankfully Oliver took pity on her and did the only thing that could get Felicity to stop rambling; he kissed her.

She felt the world melt away, forgetting where they were going, forgetting that they were in the back seat of a car being driven by their friend.

At the sound of Diggle clearing his throat Oliver pulled back, that same silly grin she had been seeing often plastered on his face. It warmed her heart to see him smile so openly.

"I like that smile," she said, using her thumb to brush the hint of lipstick still on his mouth from their kiss.

Oliver felt his pulse quicken at the feel of her touch on his lips, knowing Felicity had no idea what kind of affect she had on him. He knew they had agreed to take things slow, but it was hard when the slightest gesture from her made him feel like a teenager.

Thankfully they arrived at the Hilton just then. Oliver gave Felicity's hand one last reassuring squeeze before they exited the car. They entered the magnificent building, checking in with the head of security to ensure that they were invited guests, and then were escorted to the main ball room. Felicity clung to Oliver's arm for dear life, her eyes looking around the room, taking in the grandeur of the guests, the décor and the food. Whoever ran SW International was going all out tonight.

As the couple made their way to their assigned table they came face to face with Laurel Lance and Sebastian Blood, looking very cozy.

"Hello Laurel," Oliver said, leaning in to give her a small peck on the cheek. "Councilman Blood," he said more coolly to her escort. "I didn't realize the two of you knew each other," Oliver finished, looking between his old flame and the man that had been a thorn in his side for the last few months.

"Good evening Mr. Queen," Sebastian stated calmly. Turning to Felicity, he added, "I almost didn't recognize you without your glasses, Ms. Smoak. You look ravishing." His smile should have pleased Felicity, but instead it sent a chill down her spine. She quickly thanked him, then remarked at how beautiful Laurel looked in her white gown that nearly plunged down to her navel in the front, leaving almost nothing to the imagination.

"Thank you," Laurel said, her smile much more genuine than her date's. "It looks like you've made a full recovery from your experience in London. I'm glad everything turned out all right."

"Everything has turned out better than expected," Felicity stated easily, smiling at Oliver. Sebastian noted the slight grimace on Laurel's face at how close Oliver was with his date, and was impressed at her attempt to act as if it didn't bother her.

The two couples quickly parted ways, heading in opposite directions. Felicity gave Oliver's arm a soft squeeze. "Are you okay?" she asked earnestly.

He frowned at her. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Felicity glanced back briefly at the departing couple. "I didn't know how you would feel about seeing Laurel with someone else. I know you two are close…" She let her voice taper off, not sure what she was expecting him to say, and realizing that she didn't want to hear about his feelings for his old girlfriend.

Oliver stopped her, pulling her to the side of the room and facing him. He tilted her face up so her eyes were looking at him. "Laurel and I WERE close, and we'll always be friends, but I have no lingering feelings for her, Felicity. I wouldn't be here with you if I did." He gazed into her eyes, trying to see if the truth of his words were registering with her.

She smiled up at him, believing him, yet still wondering why he was there with her rather than the statuesque brunette that was walking around looking like a goddess that evening.

Just then something caught Oliver's attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked over Felicity's shoulder and squinted, like he was trying to focus on something that wasn't really there. His face went deathly pale, and red flags started popping up in Felicity's head. She turned to look in the direction he was viewing to see what horrific thing was causing the blood to drain from his face, but only saw Isabel chatting with a well-dressed gentleman who had his back turned to them. She looked back at Oliver and noted that his countenance had changed from a look of shock to rage.

"Felicity, call Diggle and have him pick you up immediately," Oliver said through clenched teeth.

"What?" she asked, sure she hadn't heard him correctly.

He gripped her upper arms, his hands grabbing hard enough to cause bruising she was sure. "Oliver, you're scaring me. What is going on?" She looked back at the group Oliver had been watching, seeing Isabel laughing animatedly at whatever the gentleman in front of her had said.

Oliver took Felicity by the arm and started leading her to the nearest exit, reaching into his tux pocket and grabbing his phone. He hit the keypad and started talking almost immediately. "Digg, get back here now. You need to get Felicity out of here. Meet us at the south entrance of the hotel in 5 minutes." He ended the call abruptly, his strides lengthening as he practically dragged Felicity out of the room.

They had just made their way out of the main ball room and were going down a back hall when Felicity came to a halt, yanking her arm from him. "OLIVER!" she shouted, finally gaining his full attention.

The look of anger on his face was like nothing she had ever seen before. He stood over her menacingly. "Felicity," he ground out in a harsh whisper, "you need to leave now. Come on." He tried to grab her arm again but she took a step back.

"Oliver, please stop," she pleaded, tears starting to form in her eyes at his irrational behavior. "You need to tell me what's going on or I'm not moving one step from this spot." She stood her ground, her arms crossed, trying not to be intimidated by his glare.

He got right up in her face. "This is neither the time nor the place, Felicity. For once will you please just do what you are told without questioning me," he snapped.

The hurt look on her face was like a cold bucket of water being thrown on him. He immediately regretted his words, the fear and anger that had been consuming him being pushed aside by guilt and regret. He took her face into his hands. "Please, Felicity, I will never forgive myself if anything happened to you, and right now there is an immediate danger in that ball room. I need to know you're as far away from it as humanly possible."

She saw the fear on his face, and suddenly wished she was seeing the rage instead. The fact that Oliver was scared caused goose bumps to form over her entire body. "Then come with me, Oliver. Don't just send me away not knowing what's going on and wondering if anything is going to happen to you. You are not alone on that island anymore. You can tell me what it is, please." Her voice cracked slightly at the last words, her eyes searching his to make sense of his behavior and words.

Oliver took a deep breath, cringing at her mention of the island. He realized she had a right to know what was going on, and he needed to take a moment to gather his wits.

"Remember when I told you that I had been alone on the island before being rescued?" Felicity nodded. "You know that there had been a ship that had taken me off the island for a while, the one that Sara had been on. Well once we ended up back on the island I was reunited briefly with my friends that had been helping me survive. A woman named Shado and Slade, a soldier. Shado was…" he faltered, pain ripping through him at the memory, "Shado was killed by the men from the ship, but Slade survived their attack."

Felicity was struggling to take in all of the details of what he was saying, trying to suppress a twinge of jealousy at the mention of another woman he had been stranded with other than Sara, but also trying to connect what he was saying with whatever he saw in the ball room of the hotel. Catching on to his last remark, she finally said, "but I thought you said there weren't any other survivors rescued with you on the island. What happened to Slade?"

"He….died."

"Oliver, I don't understand where this is going," Felicity exclaimed, frustration evident on her face.

"Slade Wilson, my friend, died on that island. But I am ninety-nine percent positive that Slade Wilson is the person that Isabel was just talking to in that ball room, is probably the SW behind SW International, and is responsible for the super soldier serum."

Felicity shook her head, becoming more and more confused. "Is it possible he could have survived like Sara did, and gotten off the island some other way? Isn't it possible he's here to reunite with you again, as your friend?"

"I know he didn't get off that island, and I know he was dead," Oliver said with a finality that sent a chill down Felicity's spine.

"How can you be so sure he died?"

Oliver closed his eyes and took a deep breath before answering, knowing that what he said next could change their entire relationship. However, he knew that to keep her safe, he had to be completely open and honest with her. He opened his eyes, making sure he had her full attention.

"I'm sure Slade Wilson was dead because I'm the one who killed him."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Happy New Year, and thank you so much to everyone for the amazingly positive reviews, as well as those who are following or have set this story as a favorite. It makes me giddy to know you are enjoying the stuff spouting from my brain with these incredible characters. None of it would be possible, of course, without the beauty and talent of Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards!**

**We get to see neurotic Oliver in this chapter, and the new relationship with Felicity is truly tested!**

Oliver approached Isabel and Slade, his eyes darting around nervously in anticipation of some masked soldier attacking at a moment's notice. His heart was racing and his stomach was doing flip flops at the sight of his old friend, but there was nothing happy about this reunion.

He knew Felicity was angry about being ushered away by Diggle, especially after Oliver's ominous remark about having killed Slade, and then not explaining anything to either of his partners about the details. This was one of those times when they just needed to trust that he knew what was best for both of them, no matter how much it irritated them. He would rather they be angry with him than harmed in any way.

Coming up to stand next to Isabel, he stood at the ready for whatever Slade had planned, his body anticipating stepping in front of Isabel to protect her and anyone else who may be put in harm's way.

At the sight of Oliver, Isabel smiled, and then turned to Slade. "Mr. Wilson, this is the co-CEO of Queen Consolidated, Oliver Queen, who I'm sure you have heard of in the news on various occasions," she remarked, giving Oliver a smug grin.

Slade perused Oliver from head to foot, and then stepped forward.

Oliver braced himself, ready to deflect whatever weapon Slade was concealing. It came as a complete shock when Slade gave him a huge bear hug, patting him soundly on the back and smiling as he pulled away. At Isabel's questioning look Slade finally said, "Oliver and I were roommates for a time, so to speak, on that damn island that kept both of us away from home."

Looking at Oliver, Isabel couldn't help but question, "I thought the news reports said you were found on the island alone, Oliver."

"I thought so too," he said quietly, still suspicious of Slade's motives for showing up like this, especially given their horrific parting of ways.

"I don't want to go into the gory details," Slade quickly responded, "but both of us thought the other had been killed due to some very bad people who had stumbled across us while we were there." He looked at Oliver, clapping him on the shoulder. "I was utterly relieved to see you surface shortly after I had recovered from the coma I was in for six months." He looked Oliver straight in the eye, ensuring he had his full attention for his next comment. "Had I known you were still there, my friend, I would have sent the entire Australian military to recover you, I swear."

Oliver felt his chest tighten at Slade's tone, which was the one he had used so many times when they had been working together to survive their enemies while on the island. The turn of events following Shado's death had sent both of them into a spiral that had resulted in multiple deaths and a battle between the two men that had left one man seemingly dead and the other barely alive. Oliver was sure it had not been his imagination if the patch over Slade's eye was any indication.

At the touching moment between the two men, Isabel placed her hand on Oliver's arm, making him start. "Maybe you two should spend some time catching up," she said, the sympathy for their plight obvious in her face.

"I think we've both lived enough in that past, wouldn't you agree Oliver?" Slade asked. Oliver just nodded, confusion filling his head at the man standing before him. This was not the man who he had fought to the death back on the island, who had every intention of killing Oliver for the death of the woman that they had both loved. "I'd like to talk business and see how I can help QC expand their Australian operations."

Slade and Isabel exchanged ideas on business, with Oliver distractedly listening, fighting off the flashbacks of the blows that had been exchanged between him and Slade that fateful day on the island. After a short while he felt his phone vibrating, excusing himself from the discussion and stepping out of the main room.

He let out a deep sigh at the sound of Felicity's voice, asking him if he was all right.

"I'm fine," he said. He wondered if she knew he was lying.

"Digg and I are here at Verdant. We didn't know if there would be any police reports about an attack at the Hilton, or if there would be some threat leaked to the tabloids. What's going on there?" Felicity asked, concern obvious in her voice.

"It's…it's like he's the old Slade I knew, the one who helped me survive on the island," Oliver responded.

"But I thought you said he was behind the super soldier serum we've been tracking?" Diggle interjected over the speaker phone in their secret lair. He gave Felicity an uneasy look.

"I don't know anymore," Oliver answered breathlessly, his emotions still reeling at the sight of Slade and the barrage of images that were hitting him from his time on the island. His brain was on overload and he felt as though he was ready to explode at a moment's notice. He knew he had to get away from the Hilton as soon as possible and somewhere secluded to work through this. He felt the same way he had after losing Tommy, but the last place that would bring him any solitude was the island, especially given the thoughts running through his head. Last time it had been the aftermath of the Undertaking; this time it was like he was reliving all of those awful moments from the island. He was used to getting a periodic flashback, something triggered by a word or action from someone else. However, this time there was too much to process, and he literally felt like he would explode.

Oliver turned toward the entrance to the room full of people, noting Laurel advancing toward him. "I've got to go. I want both of you to go home for now. I'll contact you later."

He put on his best smile, trying not to let the turmoil going on in his head show. "Laurel, where's your date?"

The frown on her face made it clear she wasn't there to talk about Sebastian. "Oliver, I don't mean to pry, but I noticed the look on your face when you were talking to Slade Wilson. It was like you had seen a ghost." She took a step closer to him as he tried to look off into the distance, obviously avoiding eye contact with her. "Ollie," she said softly, placing her hand on his upper arm and giving it a gentle squeeze, "is it true that you knew Mr. Wilson from the island?"

The look of anguish and naked pain on his face was evidence enough that the rumor going around the group of socialites in the other room was completely valid. Without thinking, Laurel stepped forward and took him into her arms. There were times when she wondered if her decision to end things with Oliver was a mistake or not, but right now all she cared about was comforting a friend.

It was just at that moment that Felicity successfully hacked into the security cameras at the Hilton. She heard Diggle's sharp intake of breath at the sight of Laurel in Oliver's arms, and ignored the sideway glance he was giving her. She quickly pulled up the feed from the main ball room, scanning for the location of Slade Wilson, swallowing down the large lump in her throat at what she had just seen, focusing on the resurrection of Oliver's ghost from the past.

"Is that Sebastian Blood walking out with Slade?" Diggle asked, noting the two men trying to inconspicuously exit the room on the far side from the exit where Oliver and Laurel were located.

Felicity quickly typed on the keyboard, pulling up a number of images in rapid succession, causing Diggle to shake his head at their speed. "Let me see if there's a camera for where those two are going," she stated, finally pulling up a feed of the room that they had just entered.

There was no sound, but both Diggle and Felicity could see that there was a bit of a heated exchange going on between the two. Suddenly, Slade grabbed Blood by the neck, putting the Councilman up against the wall about six inches off the ground, his hands clawing at the vice that was clearly hindering his breathing.

"What the hell?" Diggle exclaimed, trying to make sense of the scene unfolding before them.

Just as suddenly as Slade had pinned Sebastian, he let go of the smaller man, letting him collapse against the wall he had just been pinned to. Slade then lifted Blood to his feet, straightening the collar that he had just ruffled, and then giving him a light open-handed tap on the check. From the lack of color on Blood's face, he was clearly shaken by the incident, but fixed his tie, then followed the other man back into the ball room.

Diggle and Felicity looked at each other, both confused by what had just happened. "Oliver needs to know about this," Digg said, grabbing his phone and trying to call Oliver. Felicity watched on the video feed as Oliver and Laurel separated at the sound of his phone. Her heart sank as she saw him ignore the call. He said something to Laurel, then walked away from the main room. Felicity knew she should be tracking his movement, but couldn't take her eyes off of Laurel as the woman stood there, watching after Oliver. Just then Sebastian came up behind Laurel, causing the woman to turn and smile at her date. Felicity was amazed at how calm Blood appeared given the exchange he had moments earlier with Slade. She decided it was time to learn more about Slade Wilson and SW International, and figure out just what he was doing in Starling City.

As Felicity started typing away at her computer, Diggle sent Oliver a text message with what they had witnessed, telling him they needed to regroup at Verdant. He noted what Felicity was looking up on her monitors and they worked together, Diggle acting more as a cheerleader than anything else, giving encouragement as Felicity would uncover something new about Slade or his corporation.

When Felicity heard Oliver arrive she spun around in her chair, taking in his haggard look. She immediately went to him, taking him into her arms, trying not to think about the fact that Laurel had been doing this same thing just within the last hour. As she pulled back from him she noted he did not want to make eye contact with her. Not sure what he was thinking, she finally asked, "what can I do?"

When he finally brought his eyes up to meet hers, she had to fight back the lump in her throat at the raw pain she saw there. "I don't know," he replied quietly. She put her arms around him again, squeezing him as hard as she could, heartbroken for him for what he was feeling, whether he could articulate it or not.

He pulled back slowly, trying to let himself go numb versus dealing with the multitude of flashbacks going through his brain. "What have you found?" he asked, trying to get his head back on straight to prepare himself for whatever was coming.

Felicity and Digg first showed him the video feed with the exchange between Slade and Sebastian, then Felicity showed him what she had pulled up on the background of SW International. There wasn't anything odd about their financial records, but she did note that there were some very large gaps in information about Slade since his return from the island.

"What does this all mean," Oliver asked, more to himself than anyone else. Felicity and Diggle looked at each other, the concern in their eyes for their friend mirroring each other.

"I can start watching him, tracking his moves and finding out who he's been in contact with since coming to Starling City," Felicity stated.

Diggle nodded his agreement, adding, "I can start shadowing him until we have more solid information."

"NO," Oliver shouted, "I don't want either of you to be physically near Slade until we know more. The virtual surveillance will have to be enough for now," he added, rubbing the back of his neck in obvious frustration.

Felicity's phone let out a low "ding", signaling something being added to Oliver's calendar at Queen Consolidated. She opened up the email invite. "Isabel just sent a note that the executive team will be meeting with Slade Monday to discuss specifics on their investment contract." She looked at Oliver. "Do you think he would try something in the office?"

"I don't think so. Tell her I'll be there, but Diggle," he said, looking at the other man, "I want you on alert in the office if I need you." John nodded his head in agreement.

The three agreed they would all be in the office, although Oliver tried to convince Felicity she should call in sick. He finally backed down when Digg pointed out she could be more exposed home alone or at Verdant by herself than in the office with the two of them. Digg and Oliver then proceeded to get a workout in. They had been going for hours when Felicity finally gave up, her shoulders aching at the tension from the day and being hunched over her keyboard for so long without a break. She looked down at her wrinkled dress, feeling like her spa day with Thea had been years ago, not just hours ago. She watched as Oliver and Diggle worked on their hand to hand combat, disappointment at the huge emotional chasm she felt existed between her and Oliver at the moment. She knew there were things he would probably never open up to her about, but she wished there was someone who could help him sort through his feelings. She hoped maybe if she left, Oliver and Digg would have a little heart-to-heart, so she went over to the two of them and made it clear she would be heading home alone for the night. Oliver gave her a quick peck on the forehead, which was a far cry from where she had hoped that evening would have led, but it was better than nothing.

Over the next two weeks Felicity continued to research Slade Wilson, not being able to turn up much. She even turned to Barry Allen for help researching, with him using some of his Central City Police Department contacts, but with no luck. She had almost hoped that spending time with Barry would provoke Oliver and make him a little jealous, but he remained at arm's length with her, any time they spent outside of the office focused on the search for anything related to the serum or Slade Wilson's past. Where they would steal quick kisses and share heated glances before, now they barely talked, let alone touch each other. It was frustrating Felicity to no end that she couldn't stop the downward spiral Oliver was in.

All had been eerily quiet in Starling City, with nothing related to the super solider serum occurring, including no thefts or attacks. The group was still monitoring Roy's blood, but so far there had been no adverse reactions to his injection, just the increase in strength and agility that they had seen with the men who had been involved with the attacks before.

Luckily Thea hadn't noticed anything different with her boyfriend, but she definitely noticed Oliver's slide into depression. When she tried to question him on it, or even corner Felicity for information, neither of them would let her in on what was going on. It was obvious both of them were hurting, and for whatever reason they refused to turn to each other for comfort. She decided enough was enough and went to Queen Consolidated to take Felicity to lunch, if not to get information from her, then to at least cheer her up. She had heard the rumors of Slade Wilson's history with Oliver on the island, and knew he wouldn't budge on opening up about his time there, so Felicity was her best bet.

She noticed Slade walking into the main lobby of QC as she approached the elevator bank. He had been talking to Sebastian Blood, and they didn't seem to be having a very happy conversation from the look on Blood's face. However, as Slade turned to approach where Thea was standing, she was taken aback by the look of pure hatred on his face. At seeing her watching him, his countenance immediately shifted into one of pure calm, making her wonder if she had imagined the earlier look.

Slade smiled as he approached Thea. "Thea Queen, correct? I'm Slade Wilson. I know your brother, Oliver," he stated smoothly, putting his hand out to take the young woman's.

Thea put her hand out to shake his, surprised when he lifted it to give her a slight bow and a faint kiss on the back of her hand. "Yes, and you must be the Slade Wilson that everyone has been talking about since your grand entrance into Starling City society," Thea responded smoothly. Slade was all charm, but she had been around enough snakes to know when someone was being less than open with her. It had become a necessity to know who your friends and enemies were after her father and brother had disappeared, leaving Thea and her mother vulnerable to every opportunist in the city.

As the elevator doors opened, Slade gestured for her to enter before him. "Ladies first, please."

They made small talk as they went up to the executive floor. When they got off, Thea questioned if Slade was there for a meeting with her brother, but he quickly corrected her and shared that he had a lunch date with Isabel Rochev. Isabel was just making her way to the elevators as Thea excused herself to leave. She heard Isabel greet Slade warmly, MUCH more warmly than a business partner actually, admonishing him for coming all the way up to get her when she could have met him downstairs. Thea tucked that exchange away in the back of her brain, more curious now than ever about Slade Wilson and his motive for wanting to work with Queen Consolidated. Although she was not part of running the business, she kept a closer tab on things than anyone in her family knew.

She entered Oliver's office suite, noting her brother on a phone call as she approached Felicity's desk. As usual, Felicity met her with a warm smile, genuinely happy to see Oliver's little sister. It took all of two minutes for Thea to convince the blonde to go to lunch with her. As the women exited the office, Thea noted her brother's forlorn gaze after Felicity. Something was seriously off with her brother, and Thea decided that if he didn't open up soon, she was going to have to do something about it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Sorry for the delay in the previous chapter. Apparently there were some server issues that were not allowing users to update stories, so I had to wait a day to get it loaded. Because of the wait, I thought I would try to get another chapter out quickly to keep the flow going. Hope you are all still enjoying the story.**

**So just as a reminder, I've gone rogue with my own storyline about Slade and Oliver, regardless of his role as the vigilante. So although the actual storyline of the show has Slade knowing Oliver's true identity, but Sebastian not knowing it, in my story Blood knows Slade is there to take down Oliver Queen. So at this point Sebastian does not know Oliver is the vigilante, but I would expect that Slade would have figured it out given the skills he knows Oliver acquired on the island and the timing that the vigilante showed up in Starling City. Hope that helps put the first part of this next chapter in perspective.**

**Also, for all of you Barry Allen fans, I've decided to bring him back into the fold. Enjoy!**

Slade Wilson despised his forced partnership with the likes of Sebastian Blood, an opportunistic low-life who was more interested in gaining power than anything else. There was no honor in his cause, but having Blood's access to the high society of Starling City was what he needed to fulfill his ultimate goal; destroying Oliver Queen.

Slade sat in his office, reviewing the financials Isabel had sent over to him as part of his ploy to get closer to Oliver. He had thought he would have to grit his teeth to stand building a relationship with the Russian brunette as part of his plan, but had been pleasantly surprised to realize he actually enjoyed her company. She was a no-nonsense woman who had come from nothing to become one of the most powerful businesswomen in the global business market. She was expected to be collateral damage, but he was starting to reconsider that given how much he was truly enjoying her. It had been years since he had wanted to spend time with a woman for her intellect or charisma, but he was finding a bit of a soft spot for Isabel Rochev.

Sebastian entered his office, a smooth smile on his face. Slade knew he caused sheer terror in the man, but enjoyed seeing him try to overcome that fear. He only had to give Blood a certain look and the coward would be squirming, ready to bolt from his presence.

"Slade, I was hoping to have a moment of your time," he finished, smiling at the guard that had just let him into the office as the oversized man closed the double doors.

"I'm very busy, Sebastian, so what do you need," he asked, standing up to get a drink from the sideboard table. It was not lost on either of them that Slade did not offer one to the other man.

"As much as I appreciate your financial backing for my mayoral run, I'm wondering when this farce with Queen will come to an end. It's been weeks since you first saw him, and I'm ready to move forward with unveiling my new soldiers. It's been a challenge to keep them in line and out of the public eye while I wait for you to take care of Oliver Queen," he finished, trying to keep his impatience in check. The last time, at the Hilton, when Blood had questioned Slade, he had practically had his neck broken by the man.

Slade chuckled, throwing back his glass of scotch, feeling the burn of the liquid go down his throat. "Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian," he drawled out slowly, coming around his desk to stand in front of the Councilman. He noted how Blood was physically cringing at his approach, enjoying the moment of discomfort he was causing. "First, your financial backing is strictly payment for your end of our bargain. And I do appreciate you getting me involved with Queen Consolidated and one step closer to my ultimate goal with Oliver." Slade now took one step closer to Sebastian, giving him a hard look. "But let there be no mistake; you are creating an army of soldiers for ME. They could never have existed without my blood, and I will need them when I am ready to take over this city."

Sebastian's face started to go red. "But you said I could use them as I needed," he sputtered, clearly trying to hold back his anger. His hand went up to his neck, to Slade's amusement, probably at the memory of Slade's ability to cut off his airway with little effort.

"And you can," Slade answered calmly, going back around to his desk chair to take a seat. "I'm a man of my word, Blood, but this will all happen on my timeline, not yours. You are merely an employee, and I recommend you don't forget that," he finished menacingly.

"So I don't understand why you don't just kill Queen. You have the resources to take him out any way you want without raising suspicion. Or let one of the soldiers take care of it for you. I'd be happy to take over the task myself," he added, his disgust for Oliver obvious.

"Death would be a release from this life, and his sentence is yet to be carried out," Slade stated coldly, gazing off into the distance. He had been planning Oliver's demise for too long, and was more than happy to share his strategy with Blood.

"I am going to tear everything he cares about away from him…"

_Images of the Queen Consolidated offices, with Thea and Moira Queen exiting Oliver's office came to his mind…_

_"…_ destroy those who choose to follow him…"

_Images of Detective Lance and Roy Harper went through is head…_

_"…_corrupt those he loves…"

_An image of Felicity Smoak entering the Hilton ballroom at their first meeting…_

_"_ Once he has lost everyone and everything he values, I will drive an arrow through his eye. Whoever did this to her has got to suffer…" he trailed off, clearly lost in more images from his past.

Sebastian felt the pure rage in Slade's words, and started to back out of the office, sure their meeting was done as Slade became lost in what was obviously a personal vendetta with Oliver Queen. He let himself out, closing the doors behind him, a small smile on his face at the thought of the privileged, wealthy Oliver Queen being brought down.

Slade may think he was in charge, but Sebastian had his own plans. He set out to head back to the compound, to check in on how the training of his soldiers was going. He would be damned if he cultivated these men into the machines they were becoming only to have Slade Wilson take them away from him. And Starling City was just the beginning…

_At Queen Consolidated…._

Barry Allen stepped out of the elevators of the executive floor and made his way toward Oliver's office. He knew Felicity would be gone, having heard from Oliver's sister, Thea, that Felicity and Thea were going to lunch. He also knew Felicity would not be happy if she knew what he and Thea were up to, but they were fed up with watching the couple being so miserable. They hoped to help steer them back to each other before the rift between them became insurmountable.

Oliver looked at the young man as he entered the office suite, and then gave a glance at Felicity's desk. He was always aware of Felicity's comings and goings and knew she was away at lunch, as his sister had arrived earlier to take her, so he wasn't sure why Barry was there. He had known Felicity had been spending some time with Barry getting help with their research, but had been too distracted with Slade's return lately to give it a second thought. He knew he should be stepping in to discourage Felicity from spending time with Barry, but his emotions were so off the charts he wondered if maybe she was better off growing close to the other man. Although he and Felicity had been together almost night and day over the last few weeks, they had been focused on researching Slade and SW International, trying to uncover his true motive for being in Starling City, while still trying to uncover more about the super soldier serum, but both trails had gone cold. This should have translated into Oliver and Felicity getting their relationship back on track, but it had been seriously derailed by his obsession with Slade, and every day the divide between them became greater. He tried to push back the pain that thought caused and stood up to greet Barry.

"Good to see you, Barry. Are you looking for Felicty?"

Barry sat in one of the leather seats facing Oliver's desk, making it obvious that he meant to stay for a bit. "I'm actually here to speak with you, Mr. Queen."

"I think with the help you've been doing researching our new investor you can call me Oliver."

"Okay, Oliver," Barry responded, leaning forward in his chair, "I'd like to talk to you about Felicity."

At the mention of her name Oliver's entire demeanor went from one of welcoming to loathing. "I really don't think there's anything that I want to hear from you regarding that topic," Oliver replied sharply, making his way back to the door of his office and holding it open for Barry, the implication that he was not welcome any longer crystal clear.

Barry crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, ignoring Oliver and staring straight ahead, determined to see this through, despite how the hair on the back of his neck was standing up.

Oliver walked over to stand in front of him, trying to be as intimidating as possible. At the loss of blood in Barry's face, he figured he was succeeding. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Barry looked Oliver in the face. "Do you know she's started losing weight? And I don't mean a couple of pounds; I mean a good ten pounds, just in the last few weeks."

Oliver frowned at Barry, ready to make an insulting remark, but instead going around to his own chair behind his desk and taking a seat. He thought back to what Felicity had been wearing in the office today and did notice that the dress, which she had worn before, had hung much more loosely on her today.

"I…" Oliver started, not sure how to respond to Barry's remark, knowing it was true.

"And have you noticed the dark circles under her eyes? The ones that are there because she is running herself ragged trying to help find information on this Slade Wilson character, who apparently is more important to you than her," Barry bit out, clearly disgusted at Oliver's lack of notice at Felicity's current physical state.

"Listen, Oliver, I don't know what is so important about this person, but this has clearly gotten out of hand, and it's to the point where I am genuinely concerned about Felicity's well-being. I know she would never admit what it's doing to her and back down, knowing how important this…" Barry struggled to find the right word, "…this vendetta is to you, but as long as you keep asking her to do it, it's only going to get worse for her, and as her friend, I can't just sit back and let that happen. She means too much to me."

Oliver let Barry's words sink in, knowing they were true, and struggling to figure out how he could put his fears and suspicions around Slade behind him. He knew trying to figure out what was going on with Slade on his own was impossible; he needed Felicity, not only for her expertise and technical knowledge, but for the emotional support he got from her, which he was finding was more valuable than anything else. But Barry was right; it was taking its toll on her. But the sight of Slade and all he represented was wedged into Oliver's brain, and he couldn't stop it. He knew it was something along the lines of PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, where Slade was a trigger to the horrific things he had gone through on the island. He had felt like this a lot when he had first returned to Starling City, but the list had been his focus then, getting him out of his own head and giving him a purpose, and the ability to suppress those images from the island.

Barry watched Oliver, wondering what was going through his head. Everyone knew he had scars from the events that occurred on the island, and although there were rumors as to what happened to him there, no one really knew the stories. Even after asking Felicity about it, Barry was convinced Oliver had never told even her about what he had been through. And despite the fact that a part of Barry despised Oliver for winning Felicity's heart, the fact that she had found something in Oliver to love meant there was something redeeming about him.

Oliver finally found his voice. "She's going to walk away from me, you know," he said quietly, finally bringing his gaze up to meet Barry's. "I'm broken, and no matter how much I try to pretend like the things on that island didn't happen, there will always be reminders that will break me over and over again."

Barry stood up and approached the desk so he had Oliver's full attention, leaning over it and glaring right into his face. "You don't get it Oliver. She's never going to walk away from you. She is in love with you, and probably has been since the moment she met you. I have no idea why, but her faith in you is unflinching, and I believe one hundred percent that she would die before she gave up on you."

Just then, Diggle cleared his throat, having just entered Oliver's office. It was obvious that Barry and Oliver were having some type of disagreement, but at that moment, Diggle was more concerned about sharing what he had learned with Felicity and Oliver.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but there's something we need to talk about, and I need Felicity here to discuss it with you," John said, eyeing Barry. It was obvious whatever he had to say was not meant for an audience.

Oliver noted the seriousness in Diggle's tone. "Felicity is at lunch with Thea," he informed his bodyguard.

Diggle gave an uneasy glance at Barry, unsure how much to say in front of the young man, but feeling as though he didn't have time to wait for his departure. "I can't get her to answer her phone. Thea is ignoring my calls as well," he added hesitantly.

Although Felicity had been known to get distracted easily and forget to have her phone with her, Thea was almost never without her favorite piece of technology. "Let me try to call them," Oliver finally said, Barry's presence no longer his concern.

"They went to Chateau Marmont," Barry interjected, pulling up the restaurant's number on his own phone and calling it. Oliver tried first his sister, and then Felicity's number as he watched Barry, half listening to his exchange with the manager. Neither woman answered.

Oliver felt a chill run down his spine as Barry ended his call. "They never showed up for their reservations," Barry stated, repeating what the manager had told him. Barry then turned to Diggle. "Felicity said you were driving them there; isn't that where you dropped them off?"

"I got a text from Thea that she was going to be driving them to lunch, so she didn't need me to take them," Diggle said, the concern on his face growing.

"But I heard Thea say to Felicity when she came up here to get her that the car service was waiting downstairs, so they had to hurry," Oliver added, feeling the blood drain from his face. There was something terribly wrong about this whole situation.

Without thinking about what he was saying, Oliver turned to Diggle. "That's too many things to be coincidental. We need to hack into those phone records to see if we can figure out where that text supposedly from Thea came from, and check the traffic cams for the car that picked them up."

Diggle ran his hand down his face, the feeling of helplessness in him growing. "We need Felicity for that, Oliver."

"I can do it," Barry said, looking between the two men. "I mean if I can access Felicity's computers where she does all of her research for you I can do it. I know she's got some setup somewhere that allows her to access stuff that even I can't get to at the police department, but she's never actually taken me there. But if I had access to it, I know I could find what you're looking for," he finished, looking pleadingly at them.

Oliver knew what it meant if he took Barry to Verdant; it would be one more person who knew his secret. But at this point, he knew Barry was his best bet at finding Felicity. He had messed things up probably beyond repair with her, but he would be damned if he let anything bad happen to her or his sister.

He grabbed his suit coat and turned to Diggle. "Let's go," he said, the implication of his comment not lost on his friend.

Oliver hoped the trust that Felicity had placed in Barry was deserved…


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Okay, by far my favorite review from last chapter was from ChiefPam: "Oliver's an idiot and Felicity is a wuss. Just saying. I hope they come to their senses soon." I couldn't agree more, and think the writers on the show have made them a bit that way, and I've just tried to carry that into my story, although with a bit of exaggeration. Be ready to see both of them step it up!**

**Things start to come to a head in this chapter, and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for this story, just in time for the return of the show in the US. Also, for those who enjoyed the season 2 premiere in the UK and Italy, I guarantee you will not be disappointed in this upcoming season. Enjoy…**

Barry was still in a daze over what had been unveiled to him over the last few hours. He had gone with Diggle and Oliver, a bit uneasy about how quiet they had been. He had thought it was due to them not being able to get a hold of Felicity and Thea. He now realized that the disappearance of the girls was only part of Oliver's concerns. Or, he corrected, part of the Hood's concern.

In hindsight it all made sense, and he kicked himself for not putting the pieces together sooner. Oliver's return from the island coincided perfectly with the appearance of the Vigilante (as he did not like to be called the 'Hood' anymore); there had been a number of incidents involving the Vigilante related to people who were part of Queen Consolidated or the Queen family. Even the fact that Felicity had fallen so hard for Oliver made so much more sense now that Barry knew of his alter ego; of course she would fall in love with someone who constantly put themselves on the line to save others who were weaker and in need of help.

When Barry had remarked "that makes so much sense," Oliver had actually chuckled lightly, sharing with Barry that Felicity had said the same thing when he had revealed himself to her as the Vigilante. The pain that crossed Oliver's face at the mention of Felicity cut into Barry, letting him truly see how much she meant to Oliver.

The call that informed them that Thea and Felicity's disappearance was indeed a planned event came shortly after they had arrived at Verdant. Slade had made the call himself. He had instructed them that Oliver should come to one of the many deserted warehouses that sat vacant in the Glades to face the consequences of his actions. When Oliver threatened to finish what he had started with him on the island if so much as a hair was harmed on Felicty or his sister, Slade coolly responded that their fate would be up to him. Diggle and Barry commented that they were surprised he hadn't left contacting Oliver to one of the soldiers under his control, but Oliver shared that it was no surprise to him at all; for Slade, this was personal.

When they had first gotten to Verdant, Diggle showed them what Felicity had unknowingly uncovered; the location of where the soldiers were being housed and trained outside of the city. It was what Digg had original gone to talk to Oliver about when he had met Oliver and Barry at the office. Barry did just a little more digging and Sebastian Blood's name had come up in conjunction with the whole operation. Now Oliver knew how Slade had gotten his foot in the door in Starling City.

Barry surmised that Felicity had uncovered the information and that had triggered Slade into action, fearing that Oliver would come for him and his soldiers before Slade had a chance to do whatever he planned on doing.

As Oliver readied himself to meet with Slade alone, against Diggle's protests, he got a call from Roy, asking him if he had heard from Thea. They had plans for that evening, and just as Oliver had been worried about her not picking up her phone, Roy had immediately been concerned at her lack of response. When Oliver looked helplessly at Diggle, it was the bodyguard who took the initiative and grabbed the phone from him.

"Roy, we need you to come down to Verdant," John said.

"I'd rather not come into work right now; I'm more concerned about Thea," the young man said, his voice sharp.

Diggle looked at Oliver, who gave him a silent nod of consent. "We know where Thea is, but we need your help. Meet me in the back of the club," he finished, cutting off the call to avoid having to answer any more questions and delay his arrival. They were running out of time.

As Diggle brought Roy down to the lair a short time later, Roy looked as flabbergasted as Barry had when he had gotten there.

"What is this place?" he asked, eying the computers and bow and arrow equipment.

"You've been wanting to know the identity of the Vigilante, right?" Diggle asked.

Roy looked at him, nodding. Just then, Oliver walked in from the back room, in his full leather outfit with the hood off, bow in hand. "Now you know," he said calmly, waiting for Roy's reaction.

Roy frowned for a second, then, tilting his head to look over Oliver from head to toe, finally said, "actually, there are a lot of things about you that make much more sense now."

Oliver let out a sigh, saying under his breath, "why does everyone keep saying that?!"

Diggle quickly gave Roy the abbreviated history about Slade based on the little information Oliver had shared with him and Felicity, then gave him the bad news about the girls.

"I'm going with you, Oliver; I don't care if that nut case told you to come alone. You're going to need my help," Roy demanded.

Oliver, selecting which arrows he was taking with him, shook his head. "I need you to stay here. I need to make sure that my eyes and ears," he gestured toward Barry, "are protected from anything funny that Slade decides to pull, and I'll need both you and Diggs for that."

Roy walked up to Oliver, turning him so they were face to face. Oliver was struck by how solid Roy's grip was on his arm, although he still gave him a deadly look, which caused the younger man to drop his hand. "Oliver," he pleaded, "I can help you. I'm stronger and faster than you are, and if you have to face any of those amped up soldiers on your own, then Thea and Felicity will end up just as dead as you!"

Oliver turned back to his task at hand, debating the logic of Roy's words. He knew he was going in sorely outmanned and vulnerable, especially given his actions could mean harm for Felicity and his sister. He also knew he wouldn't have to face any of Slade's soldiers.

"Slade won't let anyone else take me out; he'll want to do it himself." He turned to look at Roy, Diggle and Barry. "But I do have a plan and I need all three of you to help me if we want to get the girls out of there alive and unharmed."

All three men nodded, ready to do whatever was needed to ensure Felicity and Thea were returned to them safely.

Oliver explained his plan to them in detail. Although they all thought it was a viable plan, they didn't like what it meant for Oliver.

"We can't get to them with brute force, and they don't know that we have another computer guru to help us from the outside," Oliver asserted, gesturing to Barry. "We need to take advantage of what they don't know," he finished.

"And what they don't expect, as in you walking in through the front door," Diggle added, arms crossed, shaking his head. "I still think there's too much risk to you and the girls." He looked around at Barry and Roy. "Is there any alternative we haven't thought of yet?"

Both men shook their heads, knowing that although the plan wasn't perfect, given Oliver was expected at the warehouse shortly, they were out of options and time.

"You're sure we shouldn't bring Officer Lance into this?" Barry asked, clearly shaken by Oliver's decision. He knew if Felicity got out of there alive and something happened to Oliver, she would never forgive Barry for letting Oliver put himself at risk. But he would rather have an angry Felicity than a dead one.

Oliver was adamant about keeping the police out of it. Given how easily the security guards at Queen Consolidated had been taken out and killed during the earlier robbery, he didn't want to bring that kind of harm to any of Starling City's finest. They had their hands full enough with the aftermath of the Undertaking. And he would never forgive himself if anything happened to Lance, for Laurel's sake. They were no longer a couple, and he didn't agree with the company she was keeping as of late, but he still saw Laurel as a friend, and wouldn't want anything to happen to her father.

Barry approached Oliver and handed him his ear piece. He also handed him a liquid filled arrow head. "Am I supposed to try to drug them with Vertigo?" Oliver asked, looking questioningly at the liquid. It was a different shade than he had remembered.

"Actually," Barry stated, opening a case that held five more of the same arrow heads, "Felicity gave me some of Roy's blood work, asking me if I could create a compound that would negate the effects of the serum. I brought it to her earlier this week. She had the hollow arrow heads ready to go, just hadn't had a chance to load them, so I finished the job for her."

Oliver smiled. Leave it to Felicity to think ahead to the fact that they may run up against more of the super soldiers despite not having heard anything from them in weeks. "Thank you," Oliver said to Barry, taking the liquid filled arrow heads. "These will definitely come in handy."

He loaded up his quiver and grabbed his motorcycle helmet. It was dark and he could make his way into the Glades undetected by the locals and be to the warehouse with extra time to spare to do some recon hopefully before Slade realized he was there. Diggle grabbed him by the shoulder, turning him and taking him into a bear hug. His friend nodded at him in encouragement. "Bring her home," he choked out.

Oliver turned to Roy and Barry, who were looking as forlorn as Digg. He knew this may be the last time he saw them, the odds being in Slade's favor that he wouldn't make it back. If it all ended with Felicity and Thea safe, as they planned, then it would all be worth it. Although he was probably lying, he still called after them as he made his way to the back of Verdant. "I'll be back…."

**Just in time for the weekend. Hope you enjoyed and please review. I love hearing what you think, whether good or bad, complimentary or critical. And please follow. You won't want to miss these last chapters coming up...**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Here is the conclusion to our story. Thank you again for all of the wonderfully inspirational reviews. I also greatly appreciate all of you who took the time to favorite or follow the story. Please continue posting your reviews. I love to hear your feedback. I will plan to post one more chapter after this with an epilogue of where Oliver and Felicity are several years down the road.**

**Enjoy…**

Felicity could smell the stale dust in the air as she came to. Wherever they were, no one had been there in some time she suspected. She could just make out a concrete floor underneath her feet from the bottom portion of her blindfold.

"Damn it!" Thea exclaimed nearby, sounding like she was slightly out of breath from struggling. If she was as tightly restrained as Felicity was then she could understand her frustration.

"Thea," Felicity whispered loudly, "are you okay?"

"There's no point in whispering; I came to a while ago and I haven't heard any sign of anyone other than us in here," Thea stated, her voice echoing in what sounded like a large open space. "And other than a mild headache, I'm guessing from whatever gas we got hit with in the car, I'm just peachy," she added with her typical Thea-esque dry wit.

The light in the building was extremely dim, making Felicity suspect they had probably been out for a while as it was probably past sunset. Her stomach did flip-flops thinking about Oliver and Diggle figuring out they had been taken. She knew they would come, which was a sure death sentence for all of them. If there was ever a time when she did NOT want Oliver to play the role of "hero", it was now.

Felicity turned her head in all directions, trying to make out any sign of where they were. She could hear the trains running nearby, but they ran through the entire city, so that didn't help her. Then she heard the bells. They were from St. Peter's Catholic Church, which was located smack dab in the middle of the Glades. Although her Jewish heritage didn't give her any reason to set foot in the place, she had always been fascinated by the architecture of the building and the unique quality of the bells that had been there since the earliest settlers had come to the region.

"I think we're in the old warehouse district in the Glades," Felicity said.

Slow, steady clapping followed her remark, causing both women to jump in the hard chairs they were tied to. The sound was coming from behind Felicity, so she turned her head to try to determine how close her captor was.

"Listen, if it's money you want, my family has plenty," Thea stated calmly, clearly mistaken about why they were there. Felicity didn't imagine they would be lucky enough to be victims of a simple kidnapping for money scheme. "Just hand me a smart phone and I'll take care of the wire transfer myself, no questions asked, then we can be on our way. I have plans for tonight that I'd like to keep," she finished smugly.

Felicity felt the unease creep up her back at the lack of response to Thea's statements.

"Hellooooo," Thea said, "I know someone is there."

They were met with silence.

A moment later the women had the blindfolds ripped from their heads, both letting out small yelps of surprise.

"Slade Wilson?" Thea questioned, utterly confused at the identity of the guilty party standing before her. "What's going on?" she asked with an uneasy chuckle, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Miss Queen, welcome to my impromptu gathering," Slade remarked cheerily.

"What the hell is going on?" Thea exclaimed, her anger starting to grow.

"He's waiting for Oliver," Felicity said firmly, glaring at Slade. She had at some point lost her glasses, but being far-sighted, she could clearly see the coldness in his eyes as he smiled at her in response.

"Ah, the ever-insightful Felicity Smoak," Slade remarked, giving his full attention to her. "Thanks to your excellent research skills you escalated my timeline a bit, but I carry no grudge against you for that. In fact, I think my associates are quite relieved to finally be able to exercise their new found skills," he stated, gesturing toward the dozen or so armed, muscular men in military fatigues approaching them in a circle.

"I thought you were my brother's friend!" Thea stated disgustedly, fear taking a hold of her at the sight of the approaching men.

Slade turned his attention back to Thea. "Oh, I was his friend, until he betrayed me and a woman he supposedly cared about."

He turned back to Felicity. "Does that sound familiar to you, Felicity? Oliver comes in like a knight in shining armor, whisking each woman off of their feet. First it was Helena, who had a bit of an edge to her, literally. Then let's not forget Detective McKenna Hall, who came very close to losing her life due to her tie to Oliver. And of course there is Laurel Lance, Oliver's long-time love; the woman who got him through all those years on the island," he finished, getting right into Felicity's face. "Do you want me to continue, because I think there was a little slip in Russia if I remember correctly," he said quietly.

Felicity just stared at him, refusing to let Oliver's past haunt her. No matter what Slade said, she believed Oliver when he said Laurel was in his past, and Isabel Rochev meant nothing to him. The others were also in the past, where she planned to keep them.

"Why are you doing this?" Felicity asked gently, seeing the rage and pain in his face.

Ignoring her question, Slade turned back to Thea, ready to destroy the image she had of her brother.

"Do you know what your brother does with his nights away from home?"

Thea looked uneasily at Felicity, noting the anguish on the blonde's face. "What are you talking about?" she directed back to Slade.

"I thought not," he said quietly, refusing to reveal anymore. He looked at his watch and gave a nod to one of the soldiers standing behind the women. "Be ready for him," he said simply, turning and walking away.

Thea looked at Felicity. "What was he talking about, Felicity," she asked, her frustration growing.

Felicity let her head fall forward, tears burning her eyes. Oliver had tried so desperately to keep Thea in the dark for her own safety. She didn't want to have to tell his sister about his secret, but she figured she would rather give Thea the whole story than just hear he was the Vigilante.

So Felicity started when she found out; she described the events of the night Oliver had been waiting for her in the back seat of his car, and how she had brought him to Verdant and Diggle was waiting there for them.

As she described Oliver's journey through the names in the book, and everything leading up to the night the Glades fell, Thea could hear the love and admiration that Felicity had for her brother. She also realized that her brother had transformed himself into a savior of the city, and all those times he had tried to come off as being selfish and egotistical were actually acts to cover his true nature. Tears started to fall from Felicity's face as she described the anguish and torture that Oliver had been putting himself through lately with Slade's return, and how the events on the island were haunting him day and night as of late. Thea couldn't help but let her own tears fall at the thought of everything her brother had been through, not only on the island, but since his return. She was ashamed of her own negative thoughts and assumptions about him, hoping that she would have the chance to make amends with him when they got out of this bind.

"He's going to come for us, isn't he," Thea said, more as a statement than a question.

Felicity nodded her head. "I think he expects he will come as a trade for us, and Slade will let us go."

Thea wiped her tear streaked face with her shoulder, trying to pull herself together before their captors came back. "You don't think Slade will let us go?"

"I don't know," Felicity answered honestly. "But I think if Slade has his way, he will make Oliver suffer for whatever betrayal he thinks Oliver caused."

The girls looked at each other, dreading what was to come.

Outside, Oliver slowly made his way toward the main entrance of the warehouse, ready to hand himself over to Slade and work at getting the girls to safety. Barry was in his ear, giving him any information about the movement of the soldiers around the various vacant buildings surrounding the warehouse that was his destination. He was making good progress to get to the building; it made him think they were letting him in as he was getting absolutely no interference from any of Slade's army.

He let Barry know he was ready to head into the warehouse as he placed his bow and quiver of arrows behind a large empty metal container just north of the entrance.

"Good luck, Oliver," Barry said solemnly, knowing he would lose the video feed after Oliver entered the dilapidated building.

Oliver stood up, ready to stride forward, and then hesitated. "Barry?" he said, checking to make sure the other man was listening. At the young man's response, Oliver made one last comment. "If I don't get out of this alive, you need to tell Felicity…" He stopped, swallowing back the emotion that had broken through his façade. "Tell her that I loved her, and I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it."

Barry had to fight back his own emotions at Oliver's heartfelt words. "I will," he finally said after a short pause.

At that Oliver strode toward the warehouse entrance, pulling back his hood and putting his arms up in a gesture of his surrender. Two armed guards stepped up to block his path. One of them spoke softly into a radio on his shoulder, then after a low response, they parted, letting Oliver pass.

He made his way into the building, scanning the entire open area, spying the girls right away about 50 yards away from him. They were both restrained, but looked relatively unharmed. He let out a slow sigh of relief, continuing slowly into the middle of the large open space.

"Hello old friend," he heard from behind him. He stopped, turning to Slade.

"I'm here, just like you wanted," Oliver said in a low, even tone. "You can let the girls go now."

Slade started laughing at his comment, making Oliver's stomach drop as he looked uneasily toward the women. "This is not a negotiation or a trade, Oliver. I've instructed you to come here to pay for your sins."

Oliver stepped between Slade and the direction of the girls. "I'm here, so let them go."

Before Oliver could react Slade took three long strides, grabbing up Oliver by the neck and holding him in the air. Oliver clutched at the man's hand, unable to get himself free as he felt his lungs start to burn at the lack of oxygen from his airway being cut off. He could hear the screams behind him of Felicity and his sister, begging Slade to stop.

Slade dropped Oliver, watching as he collapsed to his knees as he tried to suck air back into his body. "I am in charge!" Slade screamed at Oliver, throwing a punch that felt like a brick hitting him across the jaw. Oliver was flung to the side, blood pouring from an open cut on his lip. He was trying to regain his feet when he felt a kick to his stomach, sure he felt a rib or two crack on impact, his breath being knocked out of him.

Felicity and Thea watched helplessly as Slade continued to pummel Oliver, never giving him a chance to regain his feet. Their screams continued, broken by sobs at the sight of their loved one being injured so brutally.

Finally, Oliver couldn't get up anymore. The pain coursed through his body, not allowing him to move, blackness slowly, mercifully filling his vision as he lost consciousness.

At his lack of movement Felicity let out a prolonged scream, cursing Slade. She and Thea watched as Slade motioned for two of his soldiers to drag Oliver, each taking an arm, over to lie in front of them, tying his hands behind his back.

Thea had just started moaning in agony over seeing her brother in his current state. Felicity's emotion of fear had now turned into rage at the lunatic who stood before them. "You're insane," she bit out in between sobs, unable to take her eyes off of Oliver's motionless form.

Calmly Slade replied, "insanity would presume I am unaware of the consequences of my actions, whereas I know perfectly well what I am doing Ms. Smoak." He motioned to one of his soldiers, who stepped forward, along with another, releasing each of the girls from the chairs they had been tied to, then bringing them forward to kneel side by side facing Oliver with Slade to their backs.

Diggle and Roy watched the scene before them from 100 yards away, each with a set of high powered binoculars. They had left shortly after Oliver had departed Verdant, determined to shadow him and ensure he made it into the warehouse unobstructed. When Slade had started his assault on Oliver Roy had jumped up, ready to march in and take on Slade and his full set of soldiers by himself. Diggle finally convinced him that the girls would be killed before they could even get half way across the open expanse of the building if they charged in. Knowing that Thea and Felicity's return was the most important aspect of this whole operation, Roy had sat back down, consumed by rage at what was happening to Oliver.

Now that the girls were kneeling in front of Slade Roy could not hold back. Diggle, clearly alarmed at Thea and Felicity being placed in such a vulnerable position, agreed that it was time to get closer. They snaked their way around to the outside wall nearest where Slade and the group were positioned in the building. Barry gave them the location of where Oliver had stashed his bow and arrows, to which Roy made his way undetected, returning in record time with the items. Diggle, having been learning all of Oliver's tricks of the trade over the last year regarding archery, handed his pistol to Roy, and then pulled the quiver over his head so it rested along his back, taking out one of the serum-cure arrows and notching it into the bow. They made their way along the side to the nearest window, popping their heads up just enough to witness what was going on inside. The pane of glass had been shattered probably years ago, so they had an unobstructed view of the events as they unfolded.

Once Slade was satisfied with the position of the girls, he pulled out a metal container that held a syringe, plunging it into Oliver's chest. "Here's a little adrenaline to get you awake and back with us," he stated smoothly. "None of this will be worth it without your participation."

Oliver took huge gasps of air, moaning loudly at the pain that mere breathing brought on in his body. One of his eyes was already swollen entirely shut, but he could make out the girls kneeling just six feet away from him, facing his direction as he lay on the ground on his side. Slade stood behind them.

At first Oliver didn't understand Slade's intentions, but then he caught sight of the pistol in Slade's hand and felt his stomach drop. He had been in this same position once before, on the island, and he had watched as one of his closest friends had been murdered in cold blood. Slade's intentions became crystal clear to Oliver, and Slade knew it too at the sound of Oliver's blood curdling scream.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

As the sound of his cry died in the air, Slade stepped forward, perfectly positioned half way between the two girls. "Yes," he replied firmly in response to Oliver.

Thea, still crying, cringed at the sight of her brother. "Oliver," she sobbed, not knowing what was happening and knowing they were very close to losing their lives to this madman.

"Who will you save, Oliver?" Slade questioned, holding out the gun and aiming it first at the back of Thea's head, then behind Felicity. "I am giving you the chance to choose one of them before I put a bullet through your head," he said harshly.

As his words sunk in, Thea started sobbing hysterically. Oliver watched as his sister looked at him pleadingly, regret and anguish creeping into his bones at putting her in the middle of this. Then he looked at Felicity. She was no longer crying, although he could see the wet tears that still lined her cheeks. She was looking down, deep in thought, a slight frown on her face, working through something.

At first he was relieved she wasn't cringing in fear like his sister. But then she brought her face up and turned to look right at him, a small, reassuring smile spreading on her face. In that look he saw all of the love and trust she had always placed in him conveyed clearly, which he knew was her intention. She was giving him a look that would have to be in place of the words that she had always struggled with, her brain sometimes betraying her thoughts by letting her mouth run for him to hear her true feelings that had previously only been in her head. But now there were no words for him, only Felicity letting him see into her soul and heart; it was that heart that had taught him how to trust and love again, and believe that he was worthy of love and deserving of the purity and goodness that was Felicity Smoak.

As if stuck in a horrible nightmare, he watched as Felicity rose to her feet, turning to face Slade. Oliver tried to rise as well, but was pushed back down by one of the soldiers who had planted himself behind Oliver.

Slade, frowning at Felicity's actions, automatically turned the gun toward her, holding it up at arm's length and pointing it at her forehead. She stopped in her tracks, staring into Slade's eyes. She leaned forward, placing her forehead against the pistol so no space remained.

"Felicity, please, no," Oliver begged, pulling himself up to his knees, ignoring the agonizing pain in his side from what he suspected were broken ribs, and from the difficulty he was having breathing, probably a punctured lung.

Thea watched in horror as Felicity stood up to Slade as he gripped and re-gripped the handle of the pistol, reluctant to take the shot as this was not how it was supposed to happen. "Should I do it, Oliver?" he asked, clearly unnerved at Felicity's action. "Do you choose to save your sister instead of your girlfriend?"

"Please, Slade, I never wanted Shado to die," Oliver cried.

"Well she did!" Slade screamed, causing Felicity to flinch slightly at the movement of the pistol barrel against her skin.

"Is this what Shado would want you to do?" Felicity asked calmly, her eyes closed, not wanting to see the moment when the look in Slade's face revealed he was going to pull the trigger.

"He let her die, just like this," Slade yelled, gesturing to their current positions. "He was given a choice and he chose Sara instead of Shado," he screamed.

"No," Oliver cried, "you know I never meant for her to die. Ivo was obsessed with finding the serum, and was willing to kill all of us to get it."

Slade was now breathing through his mouth, clearly affected by the mention of the man named Ivo. "Ivo may have put the gun to her head, Oliver, but you pulled the trigger."

"I was trying to save them both, Slade, like we had tried to save you. We were all just trying to get off that hell hole alive," Oliver cried, tears now running down his face at the memories of that fateful night. "He had a gun to Sara's head, and I did the only thing I could think of; put myself in front of her. I was trying to sacrifice myself, and would gladly have died in Shado's place, Slade, I swear."

"You're lying!" Slade screamed, turning the gun toward Oliver, his whole body shaking with rage.

"No," Felicity cried, throwing herself down in front of Oliver. He tried to pull her away but he was too weak to fight her. She buried her head into his neck, squeezing her eyes shut at the anticipation of the shot being fired.

"Please, Felicity," Oliver implored, whispering into her ear, "step away and let him kill me."

"I can't," Felicity said through tears. "He's punishing you for something that you were both victims of, and I won't let him do it without a fight. I know you," she said, looking him in the eyes. "I've seen you sacrifice so much for those around you, and I know you did everything you could to try to save both Shado and Sara."

"So help me, God, I will put a bullet through both of you at once if you don't move," Slade warned, stepping closer to Felicity and Oliver.

Felicity stood and turned around, again placing herself at the end of Slade's pistol, this time with it pointing directly at her heart. "Then pull the trigger, because I will do whatever I have to so Oliver does NOT have to pick between me and his sister living, even if you do end up killing him tonight. He's been through too much already; both of you have."

Although rage was what filled Slade's face, Felicity caught the raw pain there as well at her remark.

Trying to take advantage of that pain, Felicity continued. "You both lost so much on that island, not just Shado, but part of your humanity, didn't you."

"He needs to pay for what he did," Slade said shakily.

"Slade, I've seen your military record, and what you are doing right now is not the actions of someone who time and time again put himself in harm's way to save those who were weak or being victimized," Felicity continued, trying to remember the details from the research she had spent countless hours perusing after Slade's arrival to Starling City.

"He needs to suffer like I've suffered," Slade responded, shaking his head at Felicity's references.

"Slade, haven't the two of you suffered enough?" Felicity asked.

"She didn't need to die," he said in a strangled voice.

"No, she didn't," Felicity agreed, "but is this how she would want you to honor her memory? By recreating the terror she would have felt before she died?"

"That's not…" Slade mumbled, clearly struck by Felicity's words. "Shado…" At the sound of her name he dropped the pistol from Felicity's chest, his own chest heaving, loud sobs starting to escape him. "Shado…" he tried again, unable to get the words out. Clutching his head, he screamed in agony, whirling around wildly, the emotional pain overcoming him.

Just then a gun shot rang out, with Felicity, Thea and Oliver all hitting the deck thinking Slade had shot at one of them. Then arrow after arrow came flying towards them, hitting first one then another of Slade's soldiers. They screamed in agony, clutching at the point of contact of the arrows. The rest of the soldiers whirled around, trying to determine the point of attack to retaliate. Two more shots rang out, with two more soldiers falling, clutching at their legs where they had been hit. While the remaining soldiers turned and started firing in the direction of the shots two more arrows made contact with soldiers from the opposite direction. Anyone at that point that had been hit was completely incapacitated. The last two guards took off for the exit, no longer interested in trying to fight back.

Roy and Diggle stepped into the building from two different points, their weapons up, ready to fire again if needed. Thea started crying with relief at the sight of Roy. He gently took her in his arms after freeing her from her restraints. Diggle made fast work of Felicity's bindings and was now working on Oliver to determine how serious his injuries were.

Felicity turned toward Slade, who was lying on his back, the gun safely out of reach from him, gasping as blood pooled up from the right side of his chest. She ran over and took off her sweater, pressing down on the wound, yelling for Oliver and Diggle.

"What are you doing," Slade gasped out, writhing in pain.

"I'm trying to save you," she stated crisply, looking up at Diggle as he settled on the other side of Slade.

Diggle gently lifted up the cloth covering the wound, giving Felicity and Oliver, who had just come up behind her, a slight shake of his head. He had seen enough battle wounds to know which ones were fatal and which were not. Because of the major organs hit, there was nothing they could do for Slade.

Although he knew it was futile, Diggle took over from Felicity to try to slow the bleeding. Oliver reached for Slade's hand, taking it into his own to try to bring comfort to the broken man. Slade looked at him with shock, clearly not expecting it.

"Oliver," he started to say, then going into a coughing fit as blood started to trickle from his mouth.

"Don't try to talk, Slade," Oliver said, looking at Felicity and Diggle, searching for any hope. There was none to be had from the looks on their faces.

Felicity then reached over and started brushing Slade's hair back off of his forehead in a soothing manner. "You're going to be with her soon," Felicity said reassuringly.

"Shado?" Slade questioned, relief showing on his face. Felicity nodded gently, a soft smile on her face.

He was a soldier, and had seen enough death to know his time was short. He turned back to Oliver. "I'm sorry, I…" he started, again struggling for breath.

"I know," Oliver said. Slade squeezed Oliver's hand, then Oliver felt his grip loosen slowly as he saw the life drain out of his eyes, his head falling to the side limply.

Oliver reached over and shut Slade's eyes, the pain of losing his friend again crushing his chest. He felt Felicity slip her arms around him and turned into her, taking her warmth and comfort that he had tried to hold back from for so long.

She felt his body start to shake as the sobs escaped his throat, hugging him as tightly as she could without causing him more pain from his many injuries. She sat with him, rocking him gently as Roy and Thea came up to them, Thea now calm but still clearly shaken from the events of that evening.

At the remorse on Roy's face at the sight of Slade's lifeless body, Diggle stood up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You had no choice," Diggle stated, looking him straight in the eyes. Roy nodded solemnly.

Barry came in then, checking the pulses of the now unconscious guards that had been hit with the cure. Their pulses were all strong, but he informed the group that they needed to leave before the authorities showed up. He pointed them to the sedan he had brought that would take Diggle back to his car, which was parked a half mile away, and then they would all meet at Verdant.

Felicity and Diggle helped Oliver out of the building, Oliver now totally silent after the release of emotion upon his friend's death. After a short drive Diggle, Roy and Thea got out to take Diggle's car back, and Barry closed the sedan's partition to give Oliver and Felicity privacy the rest of the drive.

Oliver was leaning back, his eyes closed, trying not to move as much as possible to avoid the shooting pain around his entire middle from the broken ribs. Diggle had confirmed for him his lung wasn't punctured, so at least they wouldn't have to take him to the hospital. Everything else could be treated by Diggle back at Verdant.

Felicity sat watching him, his one hand closest to her encased in her grasp. She had a glimpse tonight into just some of the horrifying events he had endured on the island, and she was amazed that he hadn't ended up as mad as Slade after all of it. Not many people would be able to survive that sort of thing, let alone turn it into a way to help others, like he had in taking on the role of the Vigilante.

Oliver opened his eyes, gazing at Felicity. She met his gaze, wanting him to see that she was right there with him, no matter what.

"I'm so sorry," he said, his voice quivering.

She reached out, taking him into her arms, then kissing him gently, trying not to touch where his lip was split.

"You didn't do what happened back there; you came to save us," Felicity said, caressing his cheek.

"But it was you who ended up saving all of us," he said, letting his forehead rest against hers, trying to let the tightness in his chest at the image of her putting herself in front of Slade's gun ease knowing she was safe.

"It was all of us," Felicity stated, thinking to what Diggle and Roy were able to do when the opportunity came. She didn't want Slade to die, but she thought he was finally at peace after what he had been through, so it was probably a blessing.

"Can you ever forgive me?" Oliver asked.

"For what?"

"For pushing you away when I needed you most; for not letting you know how I really feel," he answered.

Felicity felt her heart race. "How do you feel?"

"I love you, Felicity, and I was so terrified I wasn't going to get the chance to tell you after you had been taken. I've been stupid and selfish, thinking I know what's best for everyone, and letting my obsession with what happened in the past on the island get in the way of what I have right now, right in front of me," he declared, caressing her face. "And I wouldn't blame you one bit for turning around and walking away from me for how horribly I've treated you, first running away after the Undertaking, then sending you off to London, and for not letting you help me when Slade showed up. I let my own fear paralyze me and keep me away from the best thing that has ever happened to me," he finished.

Tears rolled down her cheeks at his admission. "I love you, Oliver, and I'm not going anywhere," she stated, taking him into her arms. They remained that way the rest of the ride, finally unburdened of their unspoken feelings.

For the first time in years, Oliver felt hope and the prospect of a future beyond his role of the Vigilante. His years on the island had taken so much from him, to the point where he felt that for all of the things he had done to survive, he was not worthy of love or a future with someone who could care for him. Felicity's words that afternoon so long ago rang in his ears again.

_Well I think…I think you deserve better than her._

For the first time he believed her words, and he was going to let himself believe that he deserved Felicity and the love she gave so generously to him. He vowed he would spend the rest of his life proving to her that he was worthy of her goodness and kindness.

For the first time in years, Oliver knew he was finally home.


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Thank you again to everyone who enjoyed this story. This is our conclusion, and where I think all Olicity fans hope we see Oliver and Felicity in the future. I am tossing around an idea to do another story around what I hope a marriage proposal would look like between our two favorite characters and contemplating making it an M rating, so if that is your thing, look for that in the next couple of weeks. **

**Again, I greatly appreciate the wonderful feedback I received on this story, and look forward to our favorite show being back with new episodes starting tomorrow in the US! **

**Enjoy, and don't forget to review!**

It had been several years since the events in the Glades where Slade and his army were brought down. The cure that Felicity had prepared was successful, and athough it took Oliver and team a few months to round up all the super soldiers, Slade's army had been arrested and prosecuted for their crimes.

Along with their arrests came the discovery of Sebastian Blood's involvement in the plan that would have brought down Starling City. The Councilman had disappeared immediately following the events that fateful day, but he had been discovered dead in Central America, a victim of his own desire for power after having tried to inject himself with a super serum he tried to manufacture on his own that proved deadly. The group had worked their magic so Slade's name was not associated with the soldiers and Sebastian Blood. It was the last thing Oliver could do for his old friend to compensate for the loss Slade was never able to get over.

As a result of Slade's passing (which was deemed a burglary gone wrong) the deal between Queen Consolidated and SW International was halted, but Isabel Rochev was happy to step away from Queen Consolidated and take over for Slade as the head of the organization, finally having something of her own. She had grown close to Slade toward the end, even envisioning a possible long term relationship with the former soldier. Isabel and the Queen family went their separate ways on good terms.

Roy Harper, although forever changed by the knowledge that Oliver Queen was the Vigilante, opted to be cured of the effects of the super serum he had been injected with. He knew he would always be a target for some group that would look to weaponize the serum from his blood, similar to what Slade had done, so it was an easy choice to make. He did continue to train with Oliver, becoming a bit of a side kick, or partner really, known as the Red Arrow. Oliver liked the name so much he adapted the name Green Arrow for himself. Now that Roy and Thea were happily married with their first little one on the way, Roy had thought about cutting back on his role as the Red Arrow. With their success with rebuilding the Glades and the improvement in overall economic conditions in Starling City, crime was down and the need for him and Oliver was very low.

Diggle and Layla had two boys of their own, the first coming just nine months after the trip to Russia. There had never been a hesitation about them remarrying and Diggle formerly retiring from being Oliver's bodyguard and Vigilante backup, especially once Roy was able to step up, but he was now the head of security at Queen Consolidated.

Barry Allen went back to Central City, although had a medical emergency that had him in a coma for a short period of time shortly after Slade's passing. Felicity had reached out to her friend during his recovery, pleasantly surprised at the changes he experienced as a result of his accident, and they still remained in touch to this day.

Speaking of Felicity, today found her preparing for her son's third birthday celebration. She had been under the weather as of late so had almost not gotten everything pulled together for the big day. However, the guests had arrived and Tommy was off playing with his grandparents in the backyard where the blow up castle and other outdoor toys were set up. She had just pulled the cake out of the box and was placing the candles on it when she felt an arm snake around her waist and pull her back. It still irked her to no end at how quiet he could be when sneaking up on her.

"Is there something you need, Mr. Queen?" she asked playfully, placing the last candle in place.

Oliver let out a long sigh, burying his face into her neck and inhaling deeply. He never grew tired of touching and smelling Felicity, no matter where they were or who was around them. "You, Mrs. Queen," he answered breathlessly, turning her around and placing a slow, deep kiss on her mouth.

She smiled up at him, once again wondering how she had ever gotten so lucky to be married to her best friend and the love of her life. She stifled a yawn, which caused Oliver to chuckle.

"Am I boring you," he asked with a smile, tucking a wayward lock of hair behind her ear. He looked more closely at her then, frowning a bit as he noticed faint dark circles under eyes. "Are you okay? You look pretty tired. I told you if Tommy was getting up at night you just need to wake me and I'll go get him and bring him into bed with us," he finished, concern on his face.

Felicity smiled, wondering if she should mention the reason behind her fatigue now or after the party. She quickly made up her mind. "I'm fine, just busy, that's all. You have no idea how much work goes into the planning and execution of a three-year-old's birthday party, especially when he is heir to one of the largest corporate empires in the US. I could literally over throw three third-world governments from my laptop with less effort!" she finished, giving Oliver a soft peck before turning to light the candles. Oliver watched her carefully, then took the cake from her as they made their way out the French doors that led to the enormous backyard of the Queen mansion.

Moira and Walter, who had been chasing after Tommy, turned him around to show him the cake with the lit candles his father was carrying. Felicity intercepted the rambunctious toddler before he could make a dive for Oliver's legs. There had been a nasty incident with the last go around with H.I.V.E. that had resulted in Oliver getting a knife wound to his thigh a couple of months ago that was still tender, so Felicity had to keep Tommy in check until it was fully healed. It was part of the role of being married to the Green Arrow!

Oliver's mother and step-father came over to the large patio table where the plates and drinks were set up for the party-goers, smiling lovingly at each other as they gazed at their growing family. The pair was in town for a couple of months visiting from their home in the south of France, but it was obvious that retirement suited them well. Of course, semi-retirement was probably a more accurate label. Walter was still doing some consultant work on the side, and Moira had found a passion for wine-making, having just purchased her first vineyard earlier that year.

By the end of the night Tommy had passed out on Grandpa Walter's lap as the family sat on the large patio talking about business, travelling, pre-school plans for Tommy and marveling at how well he had made out on all of his gifts. His favorite by far was the official State Department badge he had received from Auntie Laurel, who was now working in Washington, DC. Laurel had never gotten truly over Tommy's death, but had found a purpose in working for the State Department, dedicating herself to her life's work of practicing law. She was slowly working her way up the food chain, and enjoyed the political atmosphere of DC. Perhaps the happiest moment over the years for Laurel had been when she had reunited with her sister, Sara. Sara was still operating under the radar, so to speak, but occasionally found her way to Starling City to spend time with her dad and check on the Queen family. She never stayed long, but it was enough to keep Captain Lance happy.

Lance still did not know the true identity of the Green Arrow and then subsequently the Red Arrow that started popping up, but he knew which side of the law they were on. Oliver's working relationship with Lance had developed into a nice partnership where both sides shared information and worked together, albeit without the knowledge of the general public, to keep Starling City safe.

After putting Tommy in his bed and joining Felicity to sit with his mother and Walter in the front sitting room, Oliver noticed that Felicity was starting to nod off mid-conversation, even though it was still early. Moira obviously noticed as well, so they excused themselves, making their way to the guest suite they always stayed in during their prolonged stays in Starling City.

After leading Felicity up to their master bedroom suite, Oliver got stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers, brushing and flossing his teeth, and then sliding into his side of the bed for his nightly routine of watching Felicity get ready for the night. He always had some business journal at hand, pretending to read it, while the whole time he watched her go through her nightly ritual, which included putting on her most comfortable tank top and pajama shorts, removing her makeup, applying her night cream, brushing and flossing her teeth, brushing her hair, then finally tidying up the room before climbing into bed to snuggle up against Oliver.

Before he had landed on the island the thought of such a domestic scene would have had Oliver running and screaming from the room. Since being with Felicity, it was the everyday things that brought him the most comfort, from being the first one up and bringing Felicity her morning coffee, or getting Tommy ready for pre-school before they left for the office, to watching Felicity go through her bedtime routine; it brought a warmth and contentment to his heart that he thought he would never find after the island.

Felicity let out a very long and loud yawn as she settled into Oliver's side, eyes closed, almost purring at the comfort he brought to her. Again, Oliver was struck that she seemed so tired when it wasn't even 9 at night.

"Felicity?" he said quietly, seeing if she was still fully awake.

"Hmmm?" she responded, getting even closer to Oliver, if that was even possible. She knew his intuition was alerting him to something being off with her, but she was kind of enjoying holding out on him a bit longer, trying to see if he figured it out on his own.

Oliver then sat up, pulling her up with him. Upon opening her eyes, the look of worry on his face made Felicity immediately feel guilty at her little charade. He reached up, caressing one cheek with his hand while pulling her into his body with the other arm. "Are you sure you're okay? You just haven't seemed yourself lately. Do you need me to do more to help with Tommy? I know he can be a handful at times, but if you need me to do more around here or get someone to help out I'm more than happy to do that. I know you didn't want a nanny, but it's okay if you've changed your mind," he finished, finally taking a breath after getting all of what was on his mind out in one exhale.

Felicity started laughing, charmed by his concern and touched by his willingness to do whatever she wanted. She reached up and kissed him, trying to wipe the frown off of his face. Pulling back, she finally said, "do you know you are adorable when you worry?"

"So you're okay," he asked again, searching her eyes for reassurance.

"I'm better than okay," she said quietly, taking the hand he held up to her face and pulling it down to place it on her stomach. "WE are doing just fine," she smiled, watching the realization of what she was telling him spread across his face.

Wha-I mean, really?" he sputtered, clearly overtaken by his emotions, his eyes welling with tears of joy. "When?" he finally got out.

Felicity laughed lightly, giving him another kiss. "I would have to guess that weekend we went away to Aspen, after your mother and Walter first arrived back in the States and insisted we go off for some time to ourselves. Obviously she just wanted Tommy to herself, but I swear that woman is bound and determined to have many more grandchildren before all is said and done, and by God it looks like she is getting her way!"

He laughed then, taking her into his arms and kissing her over and over again until she was laughing aloud. He laid back down then, pulling her even tighter into his side, running his hand up and down her back as he gazed into her face, their noses just inches apart. "Thank you," he finally said, the sincerity evident in his tone.

"For what?" Felicity asked, staring lovingly into his eyes.

"For helping me see that I deserved more than just being the Hood; for convincing me that I was worthy of you and your love; for giving me more than I could ever hope for," he finished, gently placing his hand back down onto her stomach.

Felicity kissed him then, and they didn't need to say anymore the rest of that night, instead showing each other the love and devotion they felt in their hearts. The last thought Felicity had before drifting off was of that long ago moment, when she had just been his secretary, and they had just gotten back from the trip to Russia where Diggle had rescued Layla. She remembered Oliver's words at the time…

…_ because of the life that I lead I just think it's better to not be with someone that I could really care about._

It wasn't until after they were married, shortly after Tommy had been born, that the trip to Russia had been brought up between them again. Felicity had been hormonal, felt fat and ugly, and had brought it up to Oliver in a weak, insecure moment. It was then that he had finally confessed that he had been referring to her all those years ago, when he had talked about "someone that I could really care about." She had then recalled her own words in response to him that he deserved better than Isabel. At the time Oliver had felt very alone and isolated, sure that he was too broken to be worthy of love from anyone, most importantly her. It had been a very revealing moment in their relationship, and Russia had never been brought up again.

She smiled as she heard Oliver's soft snores signaling he was sound asleep. He _had_ deserved better, they both did, and they had finally found it in each other…


End file.
